Which to use
“leider” is an adverb and “leiser” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #367
- “leider” frequency rank
- #11,087
- “leiser” frequency rank
- 11454
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leider | leiser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ausdruck des Bedauerns | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs leis |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leider and leiser apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
leider and leiser form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - d in “leider” becomes s in “leiser” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11454, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leider is recorded at frequency rank #367, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯dɐ]. leiser is at rank #11,087, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯zɐ].
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 11454, this pair ranks #1,969,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leider" and "leiser" be used interchangeably?
Remembering leider vs leiser
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “leider”; for an adjective, it's “leiser”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leider” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable