verleihvsverliehWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,000
“verleih” frequency rank
#16,867
“verlieh” frequency rank
44867
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verleih verlieh
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verleihen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verleihen

Where the eye mixes verleih and verlieh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
verleih
7 ch
verlieh

Look-alike desk: verleih vs verlieh

A purely visual mix-up. verleih ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯]) and verlieh ([fɛɐ̯ˈliː]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ei ↔ ie) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verleih is recorded at frequency rank #28,000, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯]. verlieh is at rank #16,867, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliː].

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 44867, this pair ranks #1,372,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verleih vs verlieh

Shared letters: ehilrv. Private to "verleih": -. Private to "verlieh": -.

"verleih" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "verlieh" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verleihevrleih · velreih · verelih · verlehi · verleihh · verlleih · verrleih · vreleih
  • verliehevrlieh · velrieh · verileh · verliehh · verlihe · verllieh · verrlieh · vrelieh

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verleih" and "verlieh" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈliː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verleih" or "verlieh"?
"verlieh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,867 in our German list, against #28,000 for "verleih". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verleih" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlieh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,372,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verleih" and "verlieh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlieh vs verzieh". 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 #1,372,097 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