Which to use
“leihe” is a verb and “live” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,394
- “leihe” frequency rank
- #1,015
- “live” frequency rank
- 28409
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leihe | live |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leihen | direkt ohne Veränderungen und Verzögerungen (an ein Publikum) wiedergebend |
Where the eye mixes leihe and live
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses leihe with live
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leihe is [ˈlaɪ̯ə] while live is [laɪ̯f]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28409, 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]. live is at rank #1,015, tagged as anadj, pronounced [laɪ̯f].
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 28409, this pair ranks #1,785,302 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leihe vs live
Shared letters: eil. Private to "leihe": h. Private to "live": v.
"leihe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "live" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leihe" for "live" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "leihe" or "live" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "leihe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "live" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,785,302 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leihe" and "live" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leibes vs leihe". 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 #1,785,302 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.