Which to use
“lenzen” is a verb and “letzten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,051
- “lenzen” frequency rank
- #279
- “letzten” frequency rank
- 49330
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lenzen | letzten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Wasser aus einem Boots- oder Schiffskörper entfernen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs letzte |
Where the eye mixes lenzen and letzten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lenzen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against letzten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: lenzen vs letzten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lenzen is [ˈlɛnt͡sn̩] while letzten is [ˈlɛt͡stn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49330, 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]. letzten is at rank #279, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛt͡stn̩].
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 49330, this pair ranks #1,215,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lenzen vs letzten
Shared letters: elnz. Private to "lenzen": -. Private to "letzten": t.
"lenzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "letzten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lenzen" and "letzten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lenzen" or "letzten"?
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 "lenzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "letzten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,215,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lenzen" and "letzten" 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 #1,215,542 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.