lachvsLANTell them apart

Quick tell: lach is a verb, LAN is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lach” is a verb and “LAN” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,884
“lach” frequency rank
#8,904
“LAN” frequency rank
22788
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lach LAN
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lachen lokales Computernetzwerk

Where the eye mixes lach and LAN

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lach
3 ch
LAN

Why the eye confuses lach with LAN

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lach is [lax] while LAN is [laːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lach is recorded at frequency rank #13,884, classified as averb, pronounced [lax]. LAN is at rank #8,904, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [laːn].

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 22788, this pair ranks #1,869,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lach vs LAN

Shared letters: al. Private to "lach": ch. Private to "LAN": n.

"lach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "LAN" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lachalch · lacch · lachh · lahc · lcah · llach

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lach" and "LAN" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lach" is a verb and "LAN" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "lach" or "LAN" show up more?
"LAN" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,904 in our German list, against #13,884 for "lach". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "LAN" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,869,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lach" and "LAN" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lach vs lame". 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 #1,869,755 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