Which to use
“lachen” is a verb and “lichen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,486
- “lachen” frequency rank
- #36,482
- “lichen” frequency rank
- 37968
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lachen | lichen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wegen Belustigung den Mund öffnen und Laute ausstoßen | Flechte |
Where the eye mixes lachen and lichen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lachen and lichen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lachen with lichen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lachen is [ˈlaxn̩] while lichen is [li.ken]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “lachen” becomes i in “lichen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37968, 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]. lichen is at rank #36,482, tagged as anoun, pronounced [li.ken].
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 37968, this pair ranks #1,576,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lachen vs lichen
Shared letters: cehln. Private to "lachen": a. Private to "lichen": i.
"lachen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lichen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lachen" and "lichen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lachen" vs "lichen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "lichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,576,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lachen" and "lichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lichen vs liken". 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 #1,576,337 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.