Which to use
“leisten” and “lesen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,397
- “leisten” frequency rank
- #506
- “lesen” frequency rank
- 1903
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leisten | lesen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich selbst etwas Gutes tun, sich etwas gönnen | Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte (mithilfe der Augen) wahrnehmen sowie (im Gehirn) verarbeiten und verstehen, sowie dies gegebenenfalls laut vorlesen |
Where the eye mixes leisten and lesen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between leisten and lesen
A purely visual mix-up. leisten ([ˈlaɪ̯stn̩]) and lesen ([ˈleːzn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1903, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leisten is recorded at frequency rank #1,397, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯stn̩]. lesen is at rank #506, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːzn̩].
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 1903, this pair ranks #2,003,494 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leisten vs lesen
Shared letters: elns. Private to "leisten": it. Private to "lesen": -.
"leisten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "lesen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leisten" and "lesen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "leisten" vs "lesen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "leisten" and "lesen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "leisten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,003,494 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leisten" and "lesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs lesen". 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 #2,003,494 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.