Which to use
“lächelte” is a verb and “lachende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,354
- “lächelte” frequency rank
- #45,412
- “lachende” frequency rank
- 62766
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lächelte | lachende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lächeln | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lachend |
Where the eye mixes lächelte and lachende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lächelte and lachende follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between lächelte and lachende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lächelte is [ˈlɛçl̩tə] while lachende is [ˈlaxn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lächelte is recorded at frequency rank #17,354, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛçl̩tə]. lachende is at rank #45,412, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaxn̩də].
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 62766, this pair ranks #701,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lächelte vs lachende
Shared letters: cehl. Private to "lächelte": tä. Private to "lachende": adn.
"lächelte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "lachende" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lachende ← alchende · lacchende · lacehnde · lachedne · lachendde · lachened · lachennde · lachhende
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lächelte" and "lachende" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lächelte" vs "lachende" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lächelte" and "lachende" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lächelte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lachende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #701,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lächelte" and "lachende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lachende vs lachenden". 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 #701,051 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.