LeifvsleiteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Leif is a name, leite is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Leif” is a name and “leite” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,297
“Leif” frequency rank
#21,339
“leite” frequency rank
56636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leif leite
Definition männlicher Vorname 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leiten

Where the eye mixes Leif and leite

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Leif
5 ch
leite

Visual trap between Leif and leite

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Leif is [laɪ̯f] while leite is [ˈlaɪ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Leif is recorded at frequency rank #35,297, classified as aname, pronounced [laɪ̯f]. leite is at rank #21,339, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tə].

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 56636, this pair ranks #932,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Leif vs leite

Shared letters: eil. Private to "Leif": f. Private to "leite": t.

"Leif" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "leite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leifelif · lefi · leiff · lleif
  • leiteelite · leiet · letie · liete · lleite

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Leif" and "leite" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Leif" is a name and "leite" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Leif" or "leite"?
"leite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,339 in our German list, against #35,297 for "Leif". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Leif" and "leite" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Leif" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #932,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Leif" and "leite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leif". 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 #932,612 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