Which to use
“liegen” and “litten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #548
- “liegen” frequency rank
- #23,221
- “litten” frequency rank
- 23769
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | liegen | litten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine mehr oder weniger horizontal ausgerichtete Lage einnehmen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leiden |
Where the eye mixes liegen and litten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between liegen and litten
A purely visual mix-up. liegen ([ˈliːɡn̩]) and litten ([ˈlɪtn̩]) 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 23769, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
liegen is recorded at frequency rank #548, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈliːɡn̩]. litten is at rank #23,221, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɪtn̩].
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 23769, this pair ranks #1,856,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of liegen vs litten
Shared letters: eiln. Private to "liegen": g. Private to "litten": t.
"liegen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "litten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "liegen" and "litten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "liegen" vs "litten" - which ranks higher?
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 "liegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "litten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,856,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "liegen" and "litten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "letten vs litten". 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 #1,856,834 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.