Which to use
“liefe” and “lire” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,812
- “liefe” frequency rank
- #38,882
- “lire” frequency rank
- 85694
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | liefe | lire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs laufen | Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte wahrnehmen, verarbeiten und verstehen |
Where the eye mixes liefe and lire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. liefe runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against lire's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between liefe and lire
A purely visual mix-up. liefe ([ˈliːfə]) and lire ([liʁ]) 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 85694, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
liefe is recorded at frequency rank #46,812, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈliːfə]. lire is at rank #38,882, tagged as averb, pronounced [liʁ].
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 85694, this pair ranks #104,451 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of liefe vs lire
Shared letters: eil. Private to "liefe": f. Private to "lire": r.
"liefe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "lire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "liefe" for "lire" ever safe?
Which is more common, "liefe" or "lire"?
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 "liefe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,451 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "liefe" and "lire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lire". 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 #104,451 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.