lädtvsLuftConfusable pair

Quick tell: lädt is a verb, Luft is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lädt” is a verb and “Luft” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,980
“lädt” frequency rank
#818
“Luft” frequency rank
4798
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lädt Luft
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laden überwiegend aus Stickstoff und Sauerstoff bestehendes Gasgemisch, das Lebewesen zum Atmen benötigen

Where the eye mixes lädt and Luft

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lädt
4 ch
Luft

Why the eye confuses lädt with Luft

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lädt is [lɛːt] while Luft is [lʊft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4798, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lädt is recorded at frequency rank #3,980, classified as averb, pronounced [lɛːt]. Luft is at rank #818, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lʊft].

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 4798, this pair ranks #1,996,638 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lädt vs Luft

Shared letters: lt. Private to "lädt": . Private to "Luft": fu.

"lädt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Luft" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Luftlfut · lluft · lufft · luftt · lutf · ulft

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lädt" for "Luft" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lädt" is a verb and "Luft" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "lädt" or "Luft" show up more?
"Luft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #818 in our German list, against #3,980 for "lädt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lädt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Luft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,996,638 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lädt" and "Luft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lädt vs lähmt". 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 #1,996,638 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