Which to use
“Leitern” is an unknown and “leiteten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,423
- “Leitern” frequency rank
- #32,648
- “leiteten” frequency rank
- 57071
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Leitern | leiteten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural der weiblichen Substantive Leiter | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leiten |
Where the eye mixes Leitern and leiteten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Leitern runs 7 letters (CVVCVCC) against leiteten's 8 (CVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Leitern vs leiteten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Leitern is [ˈlaɪ̯tɐn] 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 (unknown vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Leitern is recorded at frequency rank #24,423, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tɐn]. 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 57071, this pair ranks #915,661 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Leitern vs leiteten
Shared letters: eilnt. Private to "Leitern": r. Private to "leiteten": -.
"Leitern" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "leiteten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Leitern" for "leiteten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Leitern" or "leiteten" show up more?
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 "Leitern" 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 #915,661 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Leitern" 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 #915,661 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.