LehrernvsLesernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,786
“Lehrern” frequency rank
#11,473
“Lesern” frequency rank
19259
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lehrern Lesern
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Lehrer Dativ Plural des Substantivs Leser

Where the eye mixes Lehrern and Lesern

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

7 ch
Lehrern
6 ch
Lesern

Look-alike desk: Lehrern vs Lesern

A purely visual mix-up. Lehrern ([ˈleːʁɐn]) and Lesern ([ˈleːzɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lehrern is recorded at frequency rank #7,786, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːʁɐn]. Lesern is at rank #11,473, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːzɐn].

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 19259, this pair ranks #1,910,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lehrern vs Lesern

Shared letters: elnr. Private to "Lehrern": h. Private to "Lesern": s.

"Lehrern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Lesern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lehrern ← elhrern · leherrn · lehhrern · lehrenr · lehrernn · lehrerrn · lehrrern · lerhern
  • Lesern ← elsern · leesrn · lesenr · lesernn · leserrn · lesren · lessern · llesern

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Lehrern" for "Lesern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːʁɐn] versus [ˈleːzɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Lehrern" vs "Lesern" - which ranks higher?
"Lehrern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,786 in our German list, against #11,473 for "Lesern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lehrern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lesern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,910,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lehrern" and "Lesern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs Lesern". 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 #1,910,245 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