lehrenvslettenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lehren” and “letten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,323
“lehren” frequency rank
#46,806
“letten” frequency rank
53129
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lehren letten
Definition jemandem etwas (Lehrstoff, Wissen, Fertigkeiten, …) vermitteln, beibringen; jemanden in etwas unterrichten, unterweisen Partizip Perfekt (past participle) des Verbs let

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lehren and letten apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
lehren
6 ch
letten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

lehren and letten are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53129, 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]. letten is at rank #46,806, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 53129, this pair ranks #1,070,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lehren vs letten

Shared letters: eln. Private to "lehren": hr. Private to "letten": t.

"lehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "letten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lehrenelhren · lehern · lehhren · lehrenn · lehrne · lehrren · lerhen · lheren
  • letteneltten · leten · letetn · lettenn · lettne · lletten · lteten

Frequency comparison

lehren#6,323
letten#46,806

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lehren" and "letten" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "lehren" or "letten"?
"lehren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,323 in our German list, against #46,806 for "letten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lehren vs letten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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