Which to use
“Laken” is a noun and “langen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,291
- “Laken” frequency rank
- #1,204
- “langen” frequency rank
- 36495
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Laken | langen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | großes Tuch, mit dem eine Matratze abgedeckt wird | sich einem Gegenstand entgegen strecken, um ihn zu ergreifen |
Where the eye mixes Laken and langen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Laken runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against langen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Laken and langen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Laken is [ˈlaːkn̩] while langen is [ˈlaŋən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Laken is recorded at frequency rank #35,291, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaːkn̩]. langen is at rank #1,204, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaŋən].
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 36495, this pair ranks #1,614,181 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Laken vs langen
Shared letters: aeln. Private to "Laken": k. Private to "langen": g.
"Laken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "langen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Laken" and "langen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Laken" or "langen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Laken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "langen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,614,181 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Laken" and "langen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Laken vs Lasern". 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 #1,614,181 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.