leihtvslerntTell them apart

Which to use

“leiht” and “lernt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,647
“leiht” frequency rank
#3,537
“lernt” frequency rank
29184
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leiht lernt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leihen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lernen

Where the eye mixes leiht and lernt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leiht (CVVCC) and lernt (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
leiht
5 ch
lernt

Visual trap between leiht and lernt

A purely visual mix-up. leiht ([laɪ̯t]) and lernt ([lɛʁnt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29184, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leiht is recorded at frequency rank #25,647, classified as averb, pronounced [laɪ̯t]. lernt is at rank #3,537, tagged as averb, pronounced [lɛʁnt].

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 29184, this pair ranks #1,771,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leiht vs lernt

Shared letters: elt. Private to "leiht": hi. Private to "lernt": nr.

"leiht" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "lernt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leiht ← eliht · lehit · leihht · leihtt · leith · lieht · lleiht
  • lernt ← elrnt · lenrt · lernnt · lerntt · lerrnt · lertn · llernt · lrent

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "leiht" for "lernt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([laɪ̯t] versus [lɛʁnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "leiht" or "lernt" show up more?
"lernt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,537 in our German list, against #25,647 for "leiht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leiht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lernt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,771,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leiht" and "lernt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leih vs leiht". 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 #1,771,486 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list