Which to use
“leinen” is an adjective and “lohnen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,622
- “leinen” frequency rank
- #10,518
- “lohnen” frequency rank
- 25140
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leinen | lohnen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aus Leinen gemacht | sich für etwas Gutes erkenntlich zeigen |
Where the eye mixes leinen and lohnen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses leinen with lohnen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leinen is [ˈlaɪ̯nən] while lohnen is [ˈloːnən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leinen is recorded at frequency rank #14,622, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯nən]. lohnen is at rank #10,518, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈloːnən].
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 25140, this pair ranks #1,837,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leinen vs lohnen
Shared letters: eln. Private to "leinen": i. Private to "lohnen": ho.
"leinen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "lohnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leinen" and "lohnen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "leinen" or "lohnen" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "leinen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lohnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,837,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leinen" and "lohnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leinen vs lenzen". 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 #1,837,568 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.