leitenvsliebtenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,101
“leiten” frequency rank
#33,701
“liebten” frequency rank
38802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leiten liebten
Definition die Führung ausüben 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lieben

Where the eye mixes leiten and liebten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. leiten runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against liebten's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
leiten
7 ch
liebten

Look-alike desk: leiten vs liebten

A purely visual mix-up. leiten ([ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]) and liebten ([ˈliːptn̩]) 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 38802, 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]. liebten is at rank #33,701, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈliːptn̩].

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 38802, this pair ranks #1,554,221 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leiten vs liebten

Shared letters: eilnt. Private to "leiten": -. Private to "liebten": b.

"leiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "liebten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leitenleietn · leitenn · leitne · leitten · letien · lieten · lleiten
  • liebtenilebten · leibten · libeten · liebbten · liebetn · liebtenn · liebtne · liebtten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "leiten" and "liebten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈliːptn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "leiten" vs "liebten" - which ranks higher?
"leiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,101 in our German list, against #33,701 for "liebten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "liebten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,554,221 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leiten" and "liebten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "letten vs liebten". 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 #1,554,221 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