LeuvsluiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Leu is a noun, lui is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Leu” is a noun and “lui” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,653
“Leu” frequency rank
#44,056
“lui” frequency rank
86709
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leu lui
Definition Löwe er

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Leu and lui apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
Leu
3 ch
lui

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Leu is [lɔɪ̯] while lui is [lɥi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86709, 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]. lui is at rank #44,056, tagged as apron, pronounced [lɥi].

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 86709, this pair ranks #89,992 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Leu vs lui

Shared letters: lu. Private to "Leu": e. Private to "lui": i.

"Leu" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "lui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

Leu#42,653
lui#44,056

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Leu" and "lui" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Leu" is a noun and "lui" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Leu" or "lui"?
"Leu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,653 in our German list, against #44,056 for "lui". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Leu vs lui

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Leu”; for a pronoun, it's “lui”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Leu” 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