lettenvslistenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,806
“letten” frequency rank
#5,978
“listen” frequency rank
52784
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature letten listen
Definition Partizip Perfekt (past participle) des Verbs let etwas mündlich aufzählen oder schriftlich anführen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set letten and listen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
letten
6 ch
listen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

letten and listen are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52784, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

letten is recorded at frequency rank #46,806, classified as averb, pronounced […]. listen is at rank #5,978, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɪstn̩].

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 52784, this pair ranks #1,083,388 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of letten vs listen

Shared letters: elnt. Private to "letten": -. Private to "listen": is.

"letten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "listen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • letteneltten · leten · letetn · lettenn · lettne · lletten · lteten
  • listenilsten · lisetn · lissten · listenn · listne · listten · litsen · llisten

Frequency comparison

letten#46,806
listen#5,978

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "letten" and "listen" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "letten" or "listen"?
"listen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,978 in our German list, against #46,806 for "letten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering letten vs listen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “letten” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list