Which to use
“lachten” is a verb and “Lichten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,285
- “lachten” frequency rank
- #28,291
- “Lichten” frequency rank
- 56576
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lachten | Lichten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lachen | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Licht |
Where the eye mixes lachten and Lichten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. lachten and Lichten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lachten with Lichten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lachten is [ˈlaxtn̩] while Lichten is [ˈlɪçtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “lachten” becomes i in “Lichten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lachten is recorded at frequency rank #28,285, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaxtn̩]. Lichten is at rank #28,291, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪçtn̩].
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 56576, this pair ranks #934,940 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lachten vs Lichten
Shared letters: cehlnt. Private to "lachten": a. Private to "Lichten": i.
"lachten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "Lichten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lachten" for "Lichten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "lachten" or "Lichten" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lachten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lichten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #934,940 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lachten" and "Lichten" 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 #934,940 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.