Which to use
“letter” is a noun and “letztere” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,681
- “letter” frequency rank
- #6,216
- “letztere” frequency rank
- 35897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | letter | letztere |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Brief | von zweien oder mehreren zuletzt genannt |
Where the eye mixes letter and letztere
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. letter runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against letztere's 8 (CVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses letter with letztere
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: letter is [letə(r)] while letztere is [ˈlɛt͡stəʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
letter is recorded at frequency rank #29,681, classified as anoun, pronounced [letə(r)]. letztere is at rank #6,216, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛt͡stəʁə].
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 35897, this pair ranks #1,628,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of letter vs letztere
Shared letters: elrt. Private to "letter": -. Private to "letztere": z.
"letter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "letztere" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "letter" and "letztere" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "letter" vs "letztere" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "letter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "letztere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,628,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "letter" and "letztere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "letten vs letter". 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 #1,628,881 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.