liebtvsliegWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,348
“liebt” frequency rank
#34,786
“lieg” frequency rank
37134
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature liebt lieg
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lieben 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs liegen

Where the eye mixes liebt and lieg

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
liebt
4 ch
lieg

Look-alike desk: liebt vs lieg

A purely visual mix-up. liebt ([liːpt]) and lieg ([liːk]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

liebt is recorded at frequency rank #2,348, classified as averb, pronounced [liːpt]. lieg is at rank #34,786, tagged as averb, pronounced [liːk].

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 37134, this pair ranks #1,597,971 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of liebt vs lieg

Shared letters: eil. Private to "liebt": bt. Private to "lieg": g.

"liebt" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "lieg" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • liebtilebt · leibt · libet · liebbt · liebtt · lietb · lliebt
  • liegileg · leig · liegg · lige · llieg

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "liebt" and "lieg" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([liːpt] versus [liːk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "liebt" vs "lieg" - which ranks higher?
"liebt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,348 in our German list, against #34,786 for "lieg". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "liebt" and "lieg" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "liebt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lieg" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,597,971 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "liebt" and "lieg" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs lieg". 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 #1,597,971 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