lesevslosenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,907
“lese” frequency rank
#22,422
“losen” frequency rank
25329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lese losen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lesen eine Entscheidung per Los herbeiführen

Where the eye mixes lese and losen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lese
5 ch
losen

Why the eye confuses lese with losen

A purely visual mix-up. lese ([ˈleːzə]) and losen ([ˈloːzn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lese is recorded at frequency rank #2,907, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːzə]. losen is at rank #22,422, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈloːzn̩].

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 25329, this pair ranks #1,834,909 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lese vs losen

Shared letters: els. Private to "lese": -. Private to "losen": no.

"lese" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "losen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leseelse · lesse · llese · lsee
  • losenllosen · loesn · losenn · losne · lossen · lsoen · olsen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lese" and "losen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːzə] versus [ˈloːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "lese" or "losen" show up more?
"lese" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,907 in our German list, against #22,422 for "losen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "lese" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "losen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,834,909 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lese" and "losen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs losen". 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 #1,834,909 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