LeuvsLosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,653
“Leu” frequency rank
#469
“Los” frequency rank
43122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leu Los
Definition Löwe Schicksal, unbeeinflussbares Geschick

Where the eye mixes Leu and Los

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
Leu
3 ch
Los

Look-alike desk: Leu vs Los

A purely visual mix-up. Leu ([lɔɪ̯]) and Los ([loːs]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Leu is recorded at frequency rank #42,653, classified as anoun, pronounced [lɔɪ̯]. Los is at rank #469, tagged as anoun, pronounced [loːs].

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 43122, this pair ranks #1,427,973 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Leu vs Los

Shared letters: l. Private to "Leu": eu. Private to "Los": os.

"Leu" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "Los" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Leu" and "Los" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([lɔɪ̯] versus [loːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Leu" vs "Los" - which ranks higher?
"Los" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #469 in our German list, against #42,653 for "Leu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Leu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Los" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,427,973 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Leu" and "Los" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leu". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,427,973 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