Which to use
“leiten” and “lenken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,101
- “leiten” frequency rank
- #8,098
- “lenken” frequency rank
- 13199
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leiten | lenken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Führung ausüben | an einen bestimmten Ort, an ein Ziel führen |
Where the eye mixes leiten and lenken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leiten (CVVCVC) and lenken (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses leiten with lenken
A purely visual mix-up. leiten ([ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]) and lenken ([ˈlɛŋkn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13199, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leiten is recorded at frequency rank #5,101, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]. lenken is at rank #8,098, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛŋkn̩].
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 13199, this pair ranks #1,959,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leiten vs lenken
Shared letters: eln. Private to "leiten": it. Private to "lenken": k.
"leiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "lenken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leiten" for "lenken" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "leiten" or "lenken" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "leiten" and "lenken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "leiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lenken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,959,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leiten" and "lenken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lenken vs lenzen". 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 #1,959,484 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.