leihevsleoneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leihe is a verb, leone is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leihe” is a verb and “leone” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,394
“leihe” frequency rank
#19,635
“leone” frequency rank
47029
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leihe leone
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leihen der Löwe: Tier der Art der Katzen, das in Rudeln lebt und leicht an der Mähne des entsprechenden Männchens erkennbar ist

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leihe and leone apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
leihe
5 ch
leone

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leihe is [ˈlaɪ̯ə] while leone is [leˈoːne]. 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 47029, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leihe is recorded at frequency rank #27,394, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯ə]. leone is at rank #19,635, tagged as anoun, pronounced [leˈoːne].

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 47029, this pair ranks #1,298,660 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leihe vs leone

Shared letters: el. Private to "leihe": hi. Private to "leone": no.

"leihe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "leone" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leiheelihe · lehie · leieh · leihhe · liehe · lleihe
  • leoneelone · lenoe · leoen · leonne · lleone · loene

Frequency comparison

leihe#27,394
leone#19,635

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leihe" and "leone" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leihe" is a verb and "leone" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leihe" or "leone"?
"leone" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,635 in our German list, against #27,394 for "leihe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leihe vs leone

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “leihe”; for a noun, it's “leone”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leihe” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list