Which to use
“leih” and “leihen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,670
- “leih” frequency rank
- #11,283
- “leihen” frequency rank
- 51953
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leih | leihen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leihen | eine Sache einer anderen Person für begrenzte Zeit zur Verfügung stellen |
Where the eye mixes leih and leihen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leih runs 4 letters (CVVC) against leihen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses leih with leihen
A purely visual mix-up. leih ([laɪ̯]) and leihen ([ˈlaɪ̯ən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “leih” sits inside “leihen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leih is recorded at frequency rank #40,670, classified as averb, pronounced [laɪ̯]. leihen is at rank #11,283, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯ən].
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 51953, this pair ranks #1,115,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leih vs leihen
Shared letters: ehil. Private to "leih": -. Private to "leihen": n.
"leih" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "leihen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leih" and "leihen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "leih" or "leihen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "leih" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leihen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,115,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leih" and "leihen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs leih". 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 #1,115,646 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.