LeichenvsleichtesConfusable pair

Quick tell: Leichen is a noun, leichtes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Leichen” is a noun and “leichtes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,828
“Leichen” frequency rank
#8,415
“leichtes” frequency rank
15243
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leichen leichtes
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Leiche Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs leicht

Where the eye mixes Leichen and leichtes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Leichen
8 ch
leichtes

Visual trap between Leichen and leichtes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Leichen is [ˈlaɪ̯çn̩] while leichtes is [ˈlaɪ̯çtəs]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15243, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Leichen is recorded at frequency rank #6,828, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯çn̩]. leichtes is at rank #8,415, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯çtəs].

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 15243, this pair ranks #1,945,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Leichen vs leichtes

Shared letters: cehil. Private to "Leichen": n. Private to "leichtes": st.

"Leichen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "leichtes" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leichenelichen · lecihen · leicchen · leicehn · leichenn · leichhen · leichne · leihcen
  • leichteselichtes · lecihtes · leicchtes · leichets · leichhtes · leichtess · leichtse · leichttes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Leichen" for "leichtes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Leichen" is a noun and "leichtes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Leichen" or "leichtes"?
"Leichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,828 in our German list, against #8,415 for "leichtes". 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 "Leichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leichtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,945,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Leichen" and "leichtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leichen vs Lerche". 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 #1,945,349 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