leitevslestWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“leite” and “lest” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,339
“leite” frequency rank
#18,316
“lest” frequency rank
39655
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leite lest
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leiten 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lesen

Where the eye mixes leite and lest

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
leite
4 ch
lest

Look-alike desk: leite vs lest

A purely visual mix-up. leite ([ˈlaɪ̯tə]) and lest ([leːst]) 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 39655, 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]. lest is at rank #18,316, tagged as averb, pronounced [leːst].

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 39655, this pair ranks #1,530,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leite vs lest

Shared letters: elt. Private to "leite": i. Private to "lest": s.

"leite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "lest" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leiteelite · leiet · letie · liete · lleite
  • lestelst · lesst · lestt · llest · lset

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leite" and "lest" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaɪ̯tə] versus [leːst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "leite" or "lest" show up more?
"lest" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,316 in our German list, against #21,339 for "leite". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "lest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,530,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leite" and "lest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leibes vs leite". 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 #1,530,617 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