lädstvslängstWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: lädst is a verb, längst is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lädst” is a verb and “längst” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,821
“lädst” frequency rank
#1,520
“längst” frequency rank
48341
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lädst längst
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laden schon lange, seit langem, seit langer/längerer Zeit

Where the eye mixes lädst and längst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lädst runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against längst's 6 (CVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
lädst
6 ch
längst

Look-alike desk: lädst vs längst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lädst is [lɛːt͡st] while längst is [lɛŋst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lädst is recorded at frequency rank #46,821, classified as averb, pronounced [lɛːt͡st]. längst is at rank #1,520, tagged as anadv, pronounced [lɛŋst].

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 48341, this pair ranks #1,252,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lädst vs längst

Shared letters: lstä. Private to "lädst": d. Private to "längst": gn.

"lädst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "längst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lädst" and "längst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lädst" is a verb and "längst" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "lädst" or "längst" show up more?
"längst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,520 in our German list, against #46,821 for "lädst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lädst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "längst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,252,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lädst" and "längst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lädst vs lähmt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,252,084 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