LammvsLämmerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,117
“Lamm” frequency rank
#33,176
“Lämmer” frequency rank
47293
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lamm Lämmer
Definition das junge Schaf Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Lamm

Where the eye mixes Lamm and Lämmer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Lamm
6 ch
Lämmer

Why the eye confuses Lamm with Lämmer

A purely visual mix-up. Lamm ([lam]) and Lämmer ([ˈlɛmɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47293, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lamm is recorded at frequency rank #14,117, classified as anoun, pronounced [lam]. Lämmer is at rank #33,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛmɐ].

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 47293, this pair ranks #1,289,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lamm vs Lämmer

Shared letters: lm. Private to "Lamm": a. Private to "Lämmer": erä.

"Lamm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Lämmer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lammalmm · llamm · lmam

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Lamm" for "Lämmer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([lam] versus [ˈlɛmɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Lamm" vs "Lämmer" - which ranks higher?
"Lamm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,117 in our German list, against #33,176 for "Lämmer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lamm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lämmer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,289,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lamm" and "Lämmer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Lämmer". 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 #1,289,448 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list