lahmvslateWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,958
“lahm” frequency rank
#14,348
“late” frequency rank
22306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lahm late
Definition gelähmt und daher unbeweglich spät

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lahm and late apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lahm
4 ch
late

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

lahm and late are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22306, 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]. late is at rank #14,348, tagged as anadj, pronounced […].

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 22306, this pair ranks #1,875,756 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lahm vs late

Shared letters: al. Private to "lahm": hm. Private to "late": et.

"lahm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "late" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lahmalhm · lahhm · lahmm · lamh · lham · llahm
  • latelaet · llate · ltae

Frequency comparison

lahm#7,958
late#14,348

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lahm" and "late" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "lahm" or "late"?
"lahm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,958 in our German list, against #14,348 for "late". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lahm vs late

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lahm” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list