Which to use
“lenzen” and “letzen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,051
- “lenzen” frequency rank
- #20,655
- “letzen” frequency rank
- 69706
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lenzen | letzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Wasser aus einem Boots- oder Schiffskörper entfernen | sich erquicken |
Where the eye mixes lenzen and letzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lenzen and letzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: lenzen vs letzen
A purely visual mix-up. lenzen ([ˈlɛnt͡sn̩]) and letzen ([ˈlɛt͡sn̩]) 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 a single letter - n in “lenzen” becomes t in “letzen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lenzen is recorded at frequency rank #49,051, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛnt͡sn̩]. letzen is at rank #20,655, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛt͡sn̩].
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 69706, this pair ranks #468,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lenzen vs letzen
Shared letters: elnz. Private to "lenzen": -. Private to "letzen": t.
"lenzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "letzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lenzen" and "letzen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lenzen" vs "letzen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lenzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "letzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #468,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lenzen" and "letzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lenzen 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 #468,377 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.