lettenvslittenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,806
“letten” frequency rank
#23,221
“litten” frequency rank
70027
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature letten litten
Definition Partizip Perfekt (past participle) des Verbs let 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leiden

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set letten and litten apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
letten
6 ch
litten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

letten and litten 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 differ by a single letter - e in “letten” becomes i in “litten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

letten is recorded at frequency rank #46,806, classified as averb, pronounced […]. litten is at rank #23,221, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɪtn̩].

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 70027, this pair ranks #458,721 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of letten vs litten

Shared letters: elnt. Private to "letten": -. Private to "litten": i.

"letten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "litten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • letteneltten · leten · letetn · lettenn · lettne · lletten · lteten
  • litteniltten · liten · litetn · littenn · littne · llitten · ltiten

Frequency comparison

letten#46,806
litten#23,221

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "letten" and "litten" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by a single letter - e in “letten” becomes i in “litten”, 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 "litten"?
"litten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,221 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 litten

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list