Which to use
“lahm” is an adjective and “las” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,958
- “lahm” frequency rank
- #3,265
- “las” frequency rank
- 11223
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lahm | las |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | gelähmt und daher unbeweglich | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lesen |
Where the eye mixes lahm and las
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lahm vs las
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lahm is [laːm] while las is [laːs]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11223, 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]. las is at rank #3,265, tagged as averb, pronounced [laːs].
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 11223, this pair ranks #1,971,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lahm vs las
Shared letters: al. Private to "lahm": hm. Private to "las": s.
"lahm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "las" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lahm ← alhm · lahhm · lahmm · lamh · lham · llahm
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lahm" for "las" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lahm" or "las"?
What to do next
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 "las" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,971,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lahm" and "las" 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 #1,971,010 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.