lesen

/[ˈleːzn̩]/ verb

Letters

5 characters

Frequency Rank

#506

in German word usage

Misspellings

7

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

lesen is aGermanverb. It means: Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte (mithilfe der Augen) wahrnehmen sowie (im Gehirn) verarbeiten und verstehen, sowie dies gegebenenfalls laut vorlesen Pronounced [ˈleːzn̩]. It ranks #506 in German word frequency. Often confused with Lose and lest.

Key facts for lesen
PropertyValue
Headwordlesen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈleːzn̩]
Letters5
Frequency rank#506
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of lesen in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for lesen is 5 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈleːzn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #506 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for lesen, with forms such as "elsen", "leesn", and "lesenn". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Lose", "lest", "less", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is lesen, spelled L-E-S-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte (mithilfe der Augen) wahrnehmen sowie (im Gehirn) verarbeiten und verstehen, sowie dies gegebenenfalls laut vorlesen
  2. 2
    Dinge auswählen, um sie danach aufzusammeln und zusammenzutragen
  3. 3
    Dinge in die Hand nehmen, um Schlechtes/Falsches (schlechte/falsche Früchte und Ähnliches) auszusortieren
  4. 4
    einen Lehrvortrag (Vorlesung) halten
  5. 5
    aufgezeichnete Daten von einem Träger aufnehmen

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: elsen,leesn,lesenn,lesne,lessen,llesen,lseen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for lesen

Misspelling Variants of "lesen"

elsen5leesn5lesenn6lesne5lessen6llesen6lseen5
Misspelling Variants of "lesen"

Frequency rank: #506 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lesen"?
"lesen" is spelled L-E-S-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈleːzn̩].
What does "lesen" mean?
As a verb, "lesen" means: Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte (mithilfe der Augen) wahrnehmen sowie (im Gehirn) verarbeiten und verstehen, sowie dies gegebenenfalls laut vorlesen
What words are commonly confused with "lesen"?
"lesen" is commonly confused with "Lose", "lest", "less". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lesen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lesen" is [ˈleːzn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lesen" come from?
"lesen" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter L in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.