leichtervsleichtereWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,853
“leichter” frequency rank
#24,816
“leichtere” frequency rank
26669
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leichter leichtere
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leicht Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs leicht

Where the eye mixes leichter and leichtere

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. leichter runs 8 letters (CVVCCCVC) against leichtere's 9 (CVVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
leichter
9 ch
leichtere

Why the eye confuses leichter with leichtere

A purely visual mix-up. leichter ([ˈlaɪ̯çtɐ]) and leichtere ([ˈlaɪ̯çtəʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “leichter” sits inside “leichtere”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leichter is recorded at frequency rank #1,853, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯çtɐ]. leichtere is at rank #24,816, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯çtəʁə].

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 26669, this pair ranks #1,814,394 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leichter vs leichtere

Shared letters: cehilrt. Private to "leichter": -. Private to "leichtere": -.

"leichter" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC  ·  "leichtere" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leichter ← elichter · lecihter · leicchter · leichetr · leichhter · leichterr · leichtre · leichtter
  • leichtere ← elichtere · lecihtere · leicchtere · leichetre · leichhtere · leichteer · leichterre · leichtree

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leichter" and "leichtere" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaɪ̯çtɐ] versus [ˈlaɪ̯çtəʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "leichter" or "leichtere"?
"leichter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,853 in our German list, against #24,816 for "leichtere". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "leichter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leichtere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,814,394 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leichter" and "leichtere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leichtere vs leichteste". 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 #1,814,394 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