LakenvslegenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Laken is a noun, legen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Laken” is a noun and “legen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,291
“Laken” frequency rank
#1,262
“legen” frequency rank
36553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Laken legen
Definition großes Tuch, mit dem eine Matratze abgedeckt wird etwas in horizontale Lage bringen oder in horizontaler Lage in eine Position bringen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Laken and legen apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Laken
5 ch
legen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Laken is [ˈlaːkn̩] while legen is [ˈleːɡn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36553, 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]. legen is at rank #1,262, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːɡn̩].

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 36553, this pair ranks #1,612,662 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Laken vs legen

Shared letters: eln. Private to "Laken": ak. Private to "legen": g.

"Laken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "legen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lakenalken · laekn · lakenn · lakken · lakne · lkaen · llaken
  • legenelgen · leegn · legenn · leggen · legne · lgeen · llegen

Frequency comparison

Laken#35,291
legen#1,262

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Laken" and "legen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Laken" is a noun and "legen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Laken" or "legen"?
"legen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,262 in our German list, against #35,291 for "Laken". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Laken vs legen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Laken”; for a verb, it's “legen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Laken” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list