Which to use
“lehnten” and “leisten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,213
- “lehnten” frequency rank
- #1,397
- “leisten” frequency rank
- 24610
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lehnten | leisten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs lehnen | sich selbst etwas Gutes tun, sich etwas gönnen |
Where the eye mixes lehnten and leisten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lehnten (CVCCCVC) and leisten (CVVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: lehnten vs leisten
A purely visual mix-up. lehnten ([ˈleːntn̩]) and leisten ([ˈlaɪ̯stn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24610, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lehnten is recorded at frequency rank #23,213, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːntn̩]. leisten is at rank #1,397, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯stn̩].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 24610, this pair ranks #1,845,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lehnten vs leisten
Shared letters: elnt. Private to "lehnten": h. Private to "leisten": is.
"lehnten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "leisten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lehnten" and "leisten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "lehnten" or "leisten" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lehnten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leisten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,845,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lehnten" and "leisten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lehnten vs lenzen". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,845,200 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.