Which to use
“leih” and “lieh” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,670
- “leih” frequency rank
- #26,953
- “lieh” frequency rank
- 67623
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leih | lieh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leihen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leihen |
Where the eye mixes leih and lieh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leih and lieh follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: leih vs lieh
A purely visual mix-up. leih ([laɪ̯]) and lieh ([liː]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ei ↔ ie) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67623, 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]. lieh is at rank #26,953, tagged as averb, pronounced [liː].
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 67623, this pair ranks #534,121 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leih vs lieh
Shared letters: ehil. Private to "leih": -. Private to "lieh": -.
"leih" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lieh" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leih" for "lieh" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "leih" or "lieh" 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 "lieh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #534,121 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leih" and "lieh" 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 #534,121 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.