Which to use
“leicht” is an adjective and “Lichte” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #491
- “leicht” frequency rank
- #18,319
- “Lichte” frequency rank
- 18810
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leicht | Lichte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein geringes Gewicht habend | deutschsprachiger Familienname, Nachname |
Where the eye mixes leicht and Lichte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses leicht with Lichte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leicht is [laɪ̯çt] while Lichte is [ˈlɪçtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18810, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leicht is recorded at frequency rank #491, classified as anadj, pronounced [laɪ̯çt]. Lichte is at rank #18,319, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈlɪçtə].
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 18810, this pair ranks #1,914,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leicht vs Lichte
Shared letters: cehilt. Private to "leicht": -. Private to "Lichte": -.
"leicht" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "Lichte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leicht" for "Lichte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "leicht" or "Lichte"?
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 "leicht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lichte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,914,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leicht" and "Lichte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lächle vs Lichte". 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 #1,914,717 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.