Which to use
“lehr” is a verb and “lew” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,120
- “lehr” frequency rank
- #34,242
- “lew” frequency rank
- 48362
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lehr | lew |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lehren | Löwe (Panthera leo) |
Where the eye mixes lehr and lew
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lehr runs 4 letters (CVCC) against lew's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses lehr with lew
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lehr is [leːɐ̯] while lew is [lɛf]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lehr is recorded at frequency rank #14,120, classified as averb, pronounced [leːɐ̯]. lew is at rank #34,242, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɛf].
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 48362, this pair ranks #1,251,323 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lehr vs lew
Shared letters: el. Private to "lehr": hr. Private to "lew": w.
"lehr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lew" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lehr ← elhr · lehhr · lehrr · lerh · lher · llehr
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lehr" and "lew" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "lehr" or "lew" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lehr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lew" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,251,323 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lehr" and "lew" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs lew". 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 #1,251,323 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.