leidenvsletzenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,776
“leiden” frequency rank
#20,655
“letzen” frequency rank
22431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leiden letzen
Definition starke psychische oder physische Schmerzen verspüren sich erquicken

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leiden and letzen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
leiden
6 ch
letzen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. leiden ([ˈlaɪ̯dn̩]) and letzen ([ˈlɛt͡sn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leiden is recorded at frequency rank #1,776, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯dn̩]. letzen is at rank #20,655, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛt͡sn̩].

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 22431, this pair ranks #1,874,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leiden vs letzen

Shared letters: eln. Private to "leiden": di. Private to "letzen": tz.

"leiden" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "letzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leideneliden · ledien · leidden · leidenn · leidne · leiedn · lieden · lleiden
  • letzeneltzen · letezn · letzenn · letzne · letzzen · lezten · lletzen · ltezen

Frequency comparison

leiden#1,776
letzen#20,655

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leiden" and "letzen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaɪ̯dn̩] versus [ˈlɛt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "leiden" or "letzen"?
"leiden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,776 in our German list, against #20,655 for "letzen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering leiden vs letzen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leiden” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list