LetternvsLetzterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,889
“Lettern” frequency rank
#1,702
“Letzter” frequency rank
37591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lettern Letzter
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Letter in einer zeitlichen, räumlichen oder rangmäßigen Abfolge am Ende Stehender

Where the eye mixes Lettern and Letzter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Lettern (CVCCVCC) and Letzter (CVCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
Lettern
7 ch
Letzter

Visual trap between Lettern and Letzter

A purely visual mix-up. Lettern ([ˈlɛtɐn]) and Letzter ([ˈlɛt͡stɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lettern is recorded at frequency rank #35,889, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛtɐn]. Letzter is at rank #1,702, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛt͡stɐ].

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 37591, this pair ranks #1,586,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lettern vs Letzter

Shared letters: elrt. Private to "Lettern": n. Private to "Letzter": z.

"Lettern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Letzter" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lettern ← letetrn · lettenr · letternn · letterrn · lettren · llettern · ltetern
  • Letzter ← eltzter · lettzer · lettzter · letzetr · letzterr · letztre · letztter · letzzter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Lettern" and "Letzter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɛtɐn] versus [ˈlɛt͡stɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Lettern" or "Letzter"?
"Letzter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,702 in our German list, against #35,889 for "Lettern". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lettern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Letzter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,586,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lettern" and "Letzter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "letten vs Lettern". 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 #1,586,178 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