leitendenvsleitetenConfusable pair

Quick tell: leitenden is a adjective, leiteten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leitenden” is an adjective and “leiteten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,290
“leitenden” frequency rank
#32,648
“leiteten” frequency rank
51938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leitenden leiteten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs leitend 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leiten

Where the eye mixes leitenden and leiteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. leitenden runs 9 letters (CVVCVCCVC) against leiteten's 8 (CVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
leitenden
8 ch
leiteten

Look-alike desk: leitenden vs leiteten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leitenden is [ˈlaɪ̯tn̩dən] while leiteten is [ˈlaɪ̯tətn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leitenden is recorded at frequency rank #19,290, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tn̩dən]. leiteten is at rank #32,648, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tətn̩].

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 51938, this pair ranks #1,116,221 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leitenden vs leiteten

Shared letters: eilnt. Private to "leitenden": d. Private to "leiteten": -.

"leitenden" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVC  ·  "leiteten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leitendenelitenden · leietnden · leitednen · leitendden · leitendenn · leitendne · leitenedn · leitennden
  • leiteteneliteten · leietten · leiteetn · leitetenn · leitetne · leitetten · leitteen · leitteten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leitenden" and "leiteten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leitenden" is an adjective and "leiteten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "leitenden" vs "leiteten" - which ranks higher?
"leitenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,290 in our German list, against #32,648 for "leiteten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "leitenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leiteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,116,221 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leitenden" and "leiteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leiteten 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 #1,116,221 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