LeiterinvsLeiternWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#10,514
“Leiterin” frequency rank
#24,423
“Leitern” frequency rank
34937
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leiterin Leitern
Definition weibliche Person, die in leitender Funktion tätig ist Nominativ Plural der weiblichen Substantive Leiter

Where the eye mixes Leiterin and Leitern

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

8 ch
Leiterin
7 ch
Leitern

Why the eye confuses Leiterin with Leitern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Leiterin is [ˈlaɪ̯təʁɪn] while Leitern is [ˈlaɪ̯tɐn]. 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 (noun vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34937, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Leiterin is recorded at frequency rank #10,514, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯təʁɪn]. 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 34937, this pair ranks #1,651,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Leiterin vs Leitern

Shared letters: eilnrt. Private to "Leiterin": -. Private to "Leitern": -.

"Leiterin" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC  ·  "Leitern" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leiterin ← eliterin · leietrin · leiteirn · leiterinn · leiterni · leiterrin · leitrein · leitterin
  • Leitern ← elitern · leietrn · leiternn · leiterrn · leitren · leittern · letiern · lietern

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Leiterin" and "Leitern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Leiterin" is a noun and "Leitern" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Leiterin" or "Leitern"?
"Leiterin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,514 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.

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 "Leiterin" 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 #1,651,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Leiterin" 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 #1,651,847 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