LeitungvsLeitungenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,605
“Leitung” frequency rank
#9,405
“Leitungen” frequency rank
11010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leitung Leitungen
Definition Beaufsichtigung, Betreuung, Führung, Verwaltung Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Leitung

Where the eye mixes Leitung and Leitungen

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

7 ch
Leitung
9 ch
Leitungen

Why the eye confuses Leitung with Leitungen

A purely visual mix-up. Leitung ([ˈlaɪ̯tʊŋ]) and Leitungen ([ˈlaɪ̯tʊŋən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Leitung” sits inside “Leitungen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Leitung is recorded at frequency rank #1,605, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tʊŋ]. Leitungen is at rank #9,405, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tʊŋən].

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 11010, this pair ranks #1,972,176 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Leitung vs Leitungen

Shared letters: egilntu. Private to "Leitung": -. Private to "Leitungen": -.

"Leitung" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC  ·  "Leitungen" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leitungelitung · leitnug · leittung · leitugn · leitungg · leitunng · leiutng · letiung
  • Leitungenelitungen · leitnugen · leittungen · leitugnen · leitunegn · leitungenn · leitunggen · leitungne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Leitung" for "Leitungen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaɪ̯tʊŋ] versus [ˈlaɪ̯tʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Leitung" or "Leitungen"?
"Leitung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,605 in our German list, against #9,405 for "Leitungen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Leitung" and "Leitungen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Leitung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leitungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,972,176 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Leitung" and "Leitungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leitung vs Lüftung". 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 #1,972,176 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