lernvsloreConfusable pair

Quick tell: lern is a verb, lore is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lern” is a verb and “lore” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,472
“lern” frequency rank
#26,091
“lore” frequency rank
37563
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lern lore
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lernen Überlieferung

Letter map: lern vs lore

Shared letters muted; letters that set lern and lore apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
lern
4 ch
lore

Role in the sentence - lern and lore

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lern is averb and loreanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lern is recorded at frequency rank #11,472, classified as averb, pronounced [lɛʁn]. lore is at rank #26,091, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 37563, this pair ranks #1,586,938 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lern vs lore

Shared letters: elr. Private to "lern": n. Private to "lore": o.

"lern" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lore" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lernelrn · lenr · lernn · lerrn · llern · lren
  • lorellore · loer · lorre · lroe · olre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lern" and "lore" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lern" is a verb and "lore" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "lern" or "lore" show up more?
"lern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,472 in our German list, against #26,091 for "lore". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "lern" and "lore".

  • Full dictionary entry for "lern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lore" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,586,938 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lern" and "lore" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lore vs puzzles". 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 #1,586,938 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