LeichenvsLichtenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,828
“Leichen” frequency rank
#28,291
“Lichten” frequency rank
35119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leichen Lichten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Leiche Dativ Plural des Substantivs Licht

Where the eye mixes Leichen and Lichten

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

7 ch
Leichen
7 ch
Lichten

Look-alike desk: Leichen vs Lichten

A purely visual mix-up. Leichen ([ˈlaɪ̯çn̩]) and Lichten ([ˈlɪçtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35119, 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]. Lichten is at rank #28,291, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪçtn̩].

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 35119, this pair ranks #1,647,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Leichen vs Lichten

Shared letters: cehiln. Private to "Leichen": -. Private to "Lichten": t.

"Leichen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "Lichten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leichenelichen · lecihen · leicchen · leicehn · leichenn · leichhen · leichne · leihcen
  • Lichtenilchten · lcihten · licchten · lichetn · lichhten · lichtenn · lichtne · lichtten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Leichen" for "Lichten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaɪ̯çn̩] versus [ˈlɪçtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Leichen" or "Lichten" show up more?
"Leichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,828 in our German list, against #28,291 for "Lichten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Leichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lichten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,647,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Leichen" and "Lichten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lichten vs Lichtenau". 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 #1,647,602 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