Which to use
“lahm” is an adjective and “Lärm” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,958
- “lahm” frequency rank
- #5,622
- “Lärm” frequency rank
- 13580
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lahm | Lärm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | gelähmt und daher unbeweglich | subjektiv als unangenehm empfundener Schall, der unerwünschte Auswirkungen auf den Menschen hat (etwa das Gehör schädigt, krank machen kann, stört oder belästigt) |
Where the eye mixes lahm and Lärm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lahm and Lärm follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between lahm and Lärm
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lahm is [laːm] while Lärm is [lɛʁm]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lahm is recorded at frequency rank #7,958, classified as anadj, pronounced [laːm]. Lärm is at rank #5,622, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɛʁm].
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 13580, this pair ranks #1,957,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lahm vs Lärm
Shared letters: lm. Private to "lahm": ah. Private to "Lärm": rä.
"lahm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Lärm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lahm ← alhm · lahhm · lahmm · lamh · lham · llahm
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lahm" and "Lärm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lahm" or "Lärm"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lahm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lärm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,957,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lahm" and "Lärm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lahm 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 #1,957,072 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.