lehrenvsLehrteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,323
“lehren” frequency rank
#13,423
“Lehrte” frequency rank
19746
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lehren Lehrte
Definition jemandem etwas (Lehrstoff, Wissen, Fertigkeiten, …) vermitteln, beibringen; jemanden in etwas unterrichten, unterweisen Stadt im Osten der Region Hannover in Niedersachsen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lehren and Lehrte apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
lehren
6 ch
Lehrte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

lehren and Lehrte form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19746, 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]. Lehrte is at rank #13,423, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈleːɐ̯tə].

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 19746, this pair ranks #1,905,034 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

lehren#6,323
Lehrte#13,423

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lehren" and "Lehrte" be used interchangeably?
No, "lehren" and "Lehrte" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering lehren vs Lehrte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “lehren”; for a name, it's “Lehrte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lehren” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list