leisenvslettenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leisen is a adjective, letten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leisen” is an adjective and “letten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,323
“leisen” frequency rank
#46,806
“letten” frequency rank
67129
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leisen letten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs leise Partizip Perfekt (past participle) des Verbs let

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leisen and letten apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
leisen
6 ch
letten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: leisen is anadjective and lettenaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leisen is recorded at frequency rank #20,323, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯zn̩]. letten is at rank #46,806, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 67129, this pair ranks #550,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leisen vs letten

Shared letters: eln. Private to "leisen": is. Private to "letten": t.

"leisen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "letten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leisenelisen · leiesn · leisenn · leisne · leissen · lesien · liesen · lleisen
  • letteneltten · leten · letetn · lettenn · lettne · lletten · lteten

Frequency comparison

leisen#20,323
letten#46,806

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leisen" and "letten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leisen" is an adjective and "letten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leisen" or "letten"?
"leisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,323 in our German list, against #46,806 for "letten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leisen vs letten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “leisen”; for a verb, it's “letten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leisen” 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