Which to use
“lake” and “Lauf” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,319
- “lake” frequency rank
- #1,737
- “Lauf” frequency rank
- 12056
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lake | Lauf |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Stillgewässer, das vollständig von einer Landfläche umgeben ist; See | schnelle Fortbewegung zu Fuß, bei der kurzzeitig kein Bodenkontakt besteht |
Where the eye mixes lake and Lauf
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lake (CVCV) and Lauf (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: lake vs Lauf
A purely visual mix-up. lake ([leɪk]) and Lauf ([laʊ̯f]) 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 12056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lake is recorded at frequency rank #10,319, classified as anoun, pronounced [leɪk]. Lauf is at rank #1,737, tagged as anoun, pronounced [laʊ̯f].
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 12056, this pair ranks #1,966,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lake vs Lauf
Shared letters: al. Private to "lake": ek. Private to "Lauf": fu.
"lake" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Lauf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lake" and "Lauf" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "lake" or "Lauf" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lauf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,966,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lake" and "Lauf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lake vs lame". 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 #1,966,437 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.