leitevsLeiternConfusable pair

Quick tell: leite is a verb, Leitern is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leite” is a verb and “Leitern” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,339
“leite” frequency rank
#24,423
“Leitern” frequency rank
45762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leite Leitern
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leiten Nominativ Plural der weiblichen Substantive Leiter

Where the eye mixes leite and Leitern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
leite
7 ch
Leitern

Why the eye confuses leite with Leitern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leite is [ˈlaɪ̯tə] while Leitern is [ˈlaɪ̯tɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “leite” sits inside “Leitern”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leite is recorded at frequency rank #21,339, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tə]. Leitern is at rank #24,423, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tɐn].

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 45762, this pair ranks #1,342,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leite vs Leitern

Shared letters: eilt. Private to "leite": -. Private to "Leitern": nr.

"leite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Leitern" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leiteelite · leiet · letie · liete · lleite
  • Leiternelitern · leietrn · leiternn · leiterrn · leitren · leittern · letiern · lietern

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "leite" for "Leitern" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leite" is a verb and "Leitern" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "leite" vs "Leitern" - which ranks higher?
"leite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,339 in our German list, against #24,423 for "Leitern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leitern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,342,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leite" and "Leitern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leitern vs letten". 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 #1,342,065 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