lachendvslachtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,913
“lachend” frequency rank
#28,285
“lachten” frequency rank
40198
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lachend lachten
Definition Partizip Präsens des Verbs lachen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lachen

Where the eye mixes lachend and lachten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. lachend (CVCCVCC) and lachten (CVCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
lachend
7 ch
lachten

Visual trap between lachend and lachten

A purely visual mix-up. lachend ([laxn̩t]) and lachten ([ˈlaxtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lachend is recorded at frequency rank #11,913, classified as averb, pronounced [laxn̩t]. lachten is at rank #28,285, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaxtn̩].

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 40198, this pair ranks #1,515,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lachend vs lachten

Shared letters: acehln. Private to "lachend": d. Private to "lachten": t.

"lachend" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "lachten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lachend ← alchend · lacchend · lacehnd · lachedn · lachendd · lachennd · lachhend · lachned
  • lachten ← alchten · lacchten · lachetn · lachhten · lachtenn · lachtne · lachtten · lacthen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lachend" and "lachten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([laxn̩t] versus [ˈlaxtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "lachend" or "lachten" show up more?
"lachend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,913 in our German list, against #28,285 for "lachten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "lachend" and "lachten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lachend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lachten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,515,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lachend" and "lachten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lachten vs Latten". 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 #1,515,337 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