lehrenvsLehrersWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#6,323
“lehren” frequency rank
#18,614
“Lehrers” frequency rank
24937
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lehren Lehrers
Definition jemandem etwas (Lehrstoff, Wissen, Fertigkeiten, …) vermitteln, beibringen; jemanden in etwas unterrichten, unterweisen Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Lehrer

Where the eye mixes lehren and Lehrers

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lehren runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Lehrers's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
lehren
7 ch
Lehrers

Why the eye confuses lehren with Lehrers

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lehren is [ˈleːʁən] while Lehrers is [ˈleːʁɐs]. 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 24937, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lehren is recorded at frequency rank #6,323, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːʁən]. Lehrers is at rank #18,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːʁɐs].

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 24937, this pair ranks #1,840,461 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lehren vs Lehrers

Shared letters: ehlr. Private to "lehren": n. Private to "Lehrers": s.

"lehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Lehrers" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lehren ← elhren · lehern · lehhren · lehrenn · lehrne · lehrren · lerhen · lheren
  • Lehrers ← elhrers · leherrs · lehhrers · lehrerrs · lehrerss · lehresr · lehrrers · lehrres

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lehren" for "Lehrers" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lehren" is a verb and "Lehrers" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lehren" or "Lehrers"?
"lehren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,323 in our German list, against #18,614 for "Lehrers". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "lehren" and "Lehrers" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lehrers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,840,461 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lehren" and "Lehrers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lehrers vs Lesers". 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 #1,840,461 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