lachenvslachendWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lachen” and “lachend” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,486
“lachen” frequency rank
#11,913
“lachend” frequency rank
13399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lachen lachend
Definition wegen Belustigung den Mund öffnen und Laute ausstoßen Partizip Präsens des Verbs lachen

Where the eye mixes lachen and lachend

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. lachen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against lachend's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
lachen
7 ch
lachend

Look-alike desk: lachen vs lachend

A purely visual mix-up. lachen ([ˈlaxn̩]) and lachend ([laxn̩t]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “lachen” sits inside “lachend”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lachen is recorded at frequency rank #1,486, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaxn̩]. lachend is at rank #11,913, tagged as averb, pronounced [laxn̩t].

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 13399, this pair ranks #1,958,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lachen vs lachend

Shared letters: acehln. Private to "lachen": -. Private to "lachend": d.

"lachen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lachend" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lachen ← alchen · lacchen · lacehn · lachenn · lachhen · lachne · lahcen · lcahen
  • lachend ← alchend · lacchend · lacehnd · lachedn · lachendd · lachennd · lachhend · lachned

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lachen" and "lachend" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaxn̩] versus [laxn̩t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lachen" or "lachend"?
"lachen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,486 in our German list, against #11,913 for "lachend". 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 "lachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lachend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lachen" and "lachend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lachend vs lachende". 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 #1,958,249 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