lamevslasenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#49,857
“lame” frequency rank
#28,289
“lasen” frequency rank
78146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lame lasen
Definition dünne Platte, dünne Schicht, Klinge 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lesen

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
lame
5 ch
lasen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lame is [lam] while lasen is [ˈlaːzn̩]. 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 78146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lame is recorded at frequency rank #49,857, classified as anoun, pronounced [lam]. lasen is at rank #28,289, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaːzn̩].

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 78146, this pair ranks #244,804 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lame vs lasen

Shared letters: ael. Private to "lame": m. Private to "lasen": ns.

"lame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lamealme · laem · lamme · llame · lmae
  • lasenalsen · laesn · lasenn · lasne · llasen · lsaen

Frequency comparison

lame#49,857
lasen#28,289

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lame" and "lasen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lame" is a noun and "lasen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lame" or "lasen"?
"lasen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,289 in our German list, against #49,857 for "lame". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lame vs lasen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lame”; for a verb, it's “lasen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lame” 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