ladevslädtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,399
“lade” frequency rank
#3,980
“lädt” frequency rank
13379
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lade lädt
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laden 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laden

Where the eye mixes lade and lädt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lade (CVCV) and lädt (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
lade
4 ch
lädt

Visual trap between lade and lädt

A purely visual mix-up. lade ([ˈlaːdə]) and lädt ([lɛːt]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13379, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lade is recorded at frequency rank #9,399, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaːdə]. lädt is at rank #3,980, tagged as averb, pronounced [lɛːt].

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 13379, this pair ranks #1,958,375 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lade vs lädt

Shared letters: dl. Private to "lade": ae. Private to "lädt": tä.

"lade" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lädt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lade ← alde · ladde · laed · ldae · llade

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lade" and "lädt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaːdə] versus [lɛːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "lade" or "lädt" show up more?
"lädt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,980 in our German list, against #9,399 for "lade". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lädt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,375 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lade" and "lädt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lade vs lame". 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 #1,958,375 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