leichtenvsLichteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leichten is a adjective, Lichte is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leichten” is an adjective and “Lichte” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,630
“leichten” frequency rank
#18,319
“Lichte” frequency rank
22949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leichten Lichte
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs leicht deutschsprachiger Familienname, Nachname

Where the eye mixes leichten and Lichte

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

8 ch
leichten
6 ch
Lichte

Look-alike desk: leichten vs Lichte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leichten is [ˈlaɪ̯çtn̩] while Lichte is [ˈlɪçtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22949, 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]. 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 22949, this pair ranks #1,867,641 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leichten vs Lichte

Shared letters: cehilt. Private to "leichten": n. Private to "Lichte": -.

"leichten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC  ·  "Lichte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leichtenelichten · lecihten · leicchten · leichetn · leichhten · leichtenn · leichtne · leichtten
  • Lichteilchte · lcihte · licchte · lichet · lichhte · lichtte · licthe · lihcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "leichten" for "Lichte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leichten" is an adjective and "Lichte" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leichten" or "Lichte"?
"leichten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,630 in our German list, against #18,319 for "Lichte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leichten" 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 #1,867,641 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leichten" 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 #1,867,641 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