lagenvslobenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,664
“lagen” frequency rank
#10,688
“loben” frequency rank
13352
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lagen loben
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs liegen eine wertschätzende Aussage machen

Where the eye mixes lagen and loben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lagen and loben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
lagen
5 ch
loben

Look-alike desk: lagen vs loben

A purely visual mix-up. lagen ([ˈlaːɡn̩]) and loben ([ˈloːbn̩]) 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 13352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lagen is recorded at frequency rank #2,664, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaːɡn̩]. loben is at rank #10,688, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈloːbn̩].

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 13352, this pair ranks #1,958,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lagen vs loben

Shared letters: eln. Private to "lagen": ag. Private to "loben": bo.

"lagen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "loben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lagen ← laegn · lagenn · laggen · lagne · lgaen · llagen
  • loben ← lboen · lloben · lobben · lobenn · lobne · loebn · olben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lagen" and "loben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaːɡn̩] versus [ˈloːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lagen" or "loben"?
"lagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,664 in our German list, against #10,688 for "loben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "loben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lagen" and "loben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loben vs Loses". 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 #1,958,529 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