Which to use
“leisten” and “lösten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,397
- “leisten” frequency rank
- #18,977
- “lösten” frequency rank
- 20374
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leisten | lösten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich selbst etwas Gutes tun, sich etwas gönnen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lösen |
Where the eye mixes leisten and lösten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. leisten runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against lösten's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between leisten and lösten
A purely visual mix-up. leisten ([ˈlaɪ̯stn̩]) and lösten ([ˈløːstn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20374, 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]. lösten is at rank #18,977, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈløːstn̩].
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 20374, this pair ranks #1,898,380 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leisten vs lösten
Shared letters: elnst. Private to "leisten": i. Private to "lösten": ö.
"leisten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "lösten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- leisten ← elisten · leisetn · leissten · leistenn · leistne · leistten · leitsen · lesiten
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leisten" and "lösten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "leisten" vs "lösten" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "leisten" and "lösten" 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 "lösten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,898,380 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leisten" and "lösten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Loses vs lösten". 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 #1,898,380 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.