lenken
[ˈlɛŋkn̩]
The verdict
“lenken” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #8,098 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #8,098
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - an einen bestimmten Ort, an ein Ziel führen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lenken |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈlɛŋkn̩] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #8,098 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lenken” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for lenken is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈlɛŋkn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #8,098 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for lenken, with forms such as "elnken", "leknen", and "lenekn". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "lesen", "Linke", "lenkt", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is lenken, spelled L-E-N-K-E-N.
Definition
- 1an einen bestimmten Ort, an ein Ziel führen
- 2etwas oder jemanden (ein Fahrzeug, ein Tier, eine Person) in eine Richtung im Raum steuern
- 3eine Situation, den Fokus, die Aufmerksamkeit oder eine Person steuern
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elnken,leknen,lenekn,lenkenn,lenkken,lenkne,lennken,llenken,lneken
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lenken - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "lenken"?
What does "lenken" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “lenken”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is L-E-N-K-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈlɛŋkn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “lesen” - see the side-by-side comparison. lenken vs lesen
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.