Which to use
“leih” is a verb and “Leut” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,670
- “leih” frequency rank
- #26,503
- “Leut” frequency rank
- 67173
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leih | Leut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leihen | menschliches Lebewesen (meist weiblichen Geschlechts) |
Where the eye mixes leih and Leut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. leih and Leut 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 Leut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leih is [laɪ̯] while Leut is [lɔɪ̯t]. 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 67173, 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]. Leut is at rank #26,503, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɔɪ̯t].
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 67173, this pair ranks #548,898 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leih vs Leut
Shared letters: el. Private to "leih": hi. Private to "Leut": tu.
"leih" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Leut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leih" and "Leut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "leih" or "Leut" 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 "Leut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #548,898 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leih" and "Leut" 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 #548,898 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.