LehrtevslenkteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#13,423
“Lehrte” frequency rank
#23,217
“lenkte” frequency rank
36640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lehrte lenkte
Definition Stadt im Osten der Region Hannover in Niedersachsen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lenken

Where the eye mixes Lehrte and lenkte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Lehrte
6 ch
lenkte

Why the eye confuses Lehrte with lenkte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lehrte is [ˈleːɐ̯tə] while lenkte is [ˈlɛŋktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lehrte is recorded at frequency rank #13,423, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈleːɐ̯tə]. lenkte is at rank #23,217, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛŋktə].

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 36640, this pair ranks #1,610,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lehrte vs lenkte

Shared letters: elt. Private to "Lehrte": hr. Private to "lenkte": kn.

"Lehrte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "lenkte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lehrteelhrte · lehhrte · lehret · lehrrte · lehrtte · lehtre · lerhte · lherte
  • lenkteelnkte · leknte · lenket · lenkkte · lenktte · lennkte · lentke · llenkte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Lehrte" and "lenkte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lehrte" is a name and "lenkte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Lehrte" or "lenkte"?
"Lehrte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,423 in our German list, against #23,217 for "lenkte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lehrte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lenkte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,610,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lehrte" and "lenkte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leckte vs lenkte". 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 #1,610,396 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