Which to use
“leih” is a verb and “Leos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,670
- “leih” frequency rank
- #46,110
- “Leos” frequency rank
- 86780
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leih | Leos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leihen | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Leo |
Where the eye mixes leih and Leos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. leih and Leos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses leih with Leos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leih is [laɪ̯] while Leos is [ˈleːos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86780, 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]. Leos is at rank #46,110, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːos].
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 86780, this pair ranks #89,109 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of leih vs Leos
Shared letters: el. Private to "leih": hi. Private to "Leos": os.
"leih" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Leos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leih" and "Leos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "leih" or "Leos" show up more?
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 "leih" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Leos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,109 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leih" and "Leos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leos". 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 #89,109 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.