Which to use
“leichten” is an adjective and “leiteten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,630
- “leichten” frequency rank
- #32,648
- “leiteten” frequency rank
- 37278
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leichten | leiteten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs leicht | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leiten |
Where the eye mixes leichten and leiteten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. leichten (CVVCCCVC) and leiteten (CVVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between leichten and leiteten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leichten is [ˈlaɪ̯çtn̩] while leiteten is [ˈlaɪ̯tətn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37278, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leichten is recorded at frequency rank #4,630, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯çtn̩]. leiteten is at rank #32,648, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tətn̩].
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 37278, this pair ranks #1,594,294 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leichten vs leiteten
Shared letters: eilnt. Private to "leichten": ch. Private to "leiteten": -.
"leichten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC · "leiteten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leichten" and "leiteten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "leichten" or "leiteten" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "leichten" and "leiteten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "leichten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leiteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,594,294 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leichten" and "leiteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leiteten vs letten". 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 #1,594,294 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.