letzenvsletztemWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: letzen is a verb, letztem is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“letzen” is a verb and “letztem” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,655
“letzen” frequency rank
#19,291
“letztem” frequency rank
39946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature letzen letztem
Definition sich erquicken Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs letzte

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
letzen
7 ch
letztem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: letzen is [ˈlɛt͡sn̩] while letztem is [ˈlɛt͡stəm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

letzen is recorded at frequency rank #20,655, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛt͡sn̩]. letztem is at rank #19,291, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛt͡stəm].

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 39946, this pair ranks #1,522,384 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of letzen vs letztem

Shared letters: eltz. Private to "letzen": n. Private to "letztem": m.

"letzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "letztem" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • letzeneltzen · letezn · letzenn · letzne · letzzen · lezten · lletzen · ltezen
  • letztemeltztem · lettzem · lettztem · letzetm · letztemm · letztme · letzttem · letzztem

Frequency comparison

letzen#20,655
letztem#19,291

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "letzen" and "letztem" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "letzen" is a verb and "letztem" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "letzen" or "letztem"?
"letztem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,291 in our German list, against #20,655 for "letzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering letzen vs letztem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “letzen”; for an adjective, it's “letztem”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “letzen” 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