verleitenvsverlesenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,451
“verleiten” frequency rank
#19,753
“verlesen” frequency rank
48204
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verleiten verlesen
Definition jemanden zu einer Handlung veranlassen, die er von sich aus nicht gemacht hätte einen Fehler beim Lesen machen; etwas falsch lesen; ein oder mehrere Worte beim Lesen verwechseln

Where the eye mixes verleiten and verlesen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verleiten runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against verlesen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
verleiten
8 ch
verlesen

Look-alike desk: verleiten vs verlesen

A purely visual mix-up. verleiten ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]) and verlesen ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩]) 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 48204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verleiten is recorded at frequency rank #28,451, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]. verlesen is at rank #19,753, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩].

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 48204, this pair ranks #1,257,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verleiten vs verlesen

Shared letters: elnrv. Private to "verleiten": it. Private to "verlesen": s.

"verleiten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "verlesen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verleiten ← evrleiten · velreiten · vereliten · verleietn · verleitenn · verleitne · verleitten · verletien
  • verlesen ← evrlesen · velresen · verelsen · verleesn · verlesenn · verlesne · verlessen · verllesen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verleiten" for "verlesen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯tn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verleiten" or "verlesen"?
"verlesen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,753 in our German list, against #28,451 for "verleiten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "verleiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,257,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verleiten" and "verlesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vereiteln vs verleiten". 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 #1,257,082 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