lehrvslexWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: lehr is a verb, lex is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lehr” is a verb and “lex” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,120
“lehr” frequency rank
#12,961
“lex” frequency rank
27081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lehr lex
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lehren das Recht, das Gesetz, die Gesetzessammlung

Letter map: lehr vs lex

Shared letters muted; letters that set lehr and lex apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
lehr
3 ch
lex

Role in the sentence - lehr and lex

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lehr is averb and lexanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27081, 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]. lex is at rank #12,961, tagged as anoun.

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 27081, this pair ranks #1,807,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lehr vs lex

Shared letters: el. Private to "lehr": hr. Private to "lex": x.

"lehr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lex" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lehrelhr · lehhr · lehrr · lerh · lher · llehr

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lehr" and "lex" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lehr" is a verb and "lex" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "lehr" vs "lex" - which ranks higher?
"lex" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,961 in our German list, against #14,120 for "lehr". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "lehr" and "lex". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lehr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,807,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lehr" and "lex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs lehr". 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 #1,807,647 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list