leavingvslevinWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leaving is a verb, levin is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leaving” is a verb and “levin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,123
“leaving” frequency rank
#16,957
“levin” frequency rank
18080
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leaving levin
Definition present participle and gerund of leave Lightning; a bolt of lightning; also, a bright flame or light.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leaving and levin apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
leaving
5 ch
levin

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leaving is /ˈliːvɪŋ/ while levin is /ˈlɛvɪn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leaving is recorded at frequency rank #1,123, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈliːvɪŋ/. levin is at rank #16,957, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛvɪn/.

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 18080, this pair ranks #447,243 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leaving vs levin

Shared letters: eilnv. Private to "leaving": ag. Private to "levin": -.

"leaving" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC  ·  "levin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leavingelaving · laeving · leaivng · leavign · leavingg · leavinng · leavnig · leavving
  • levinelvin · leivn · levinn · levni · levvin · llevin · lvein

Frequency comparison

leaving#1,123
levin#16,957

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leaving" and "levin" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leaving" is a verb and "levin" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leaving" or "levin"?
"leaving" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,123 in our English list, against #16,957 for "levin". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering leaving vs levin

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “leaving”; for a noun, it's “levin”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leaving” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list