langvslaueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#403
“lang” frequency rank
#38,872
“laue” frequency rank
39275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lang laue
Definition große Ausmaße, große räumliche Ausmaße habend; über große Ausmaße, große Ausdehnung verfügend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lau

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lang and laue apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lang
4 ch
laue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lang ([laŋ]) and laue ([ˈlaʊ̯ə]) 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 39275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lang is recorded at frequency rank #403, classified as anadj, pronounced [laŋ]. laue is at rank #38,872, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ə].

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 39275, this pair ranks #1,541,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lang vs laue

Shared letters: al. Private to "lang": gn. Private to "laue": eu.

"lang" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "laue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • langalng · lagn · langg · lanng · llang · lnag
  • lauealue · laeu · llaue · luae

Frequency comparison

lang#403
laue#38,872

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lang" and "laue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([laŋ] versus [ˈlaʊ̯ə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lang" or "laue"?
"lang" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #403 in our German list, against #38,872 for "laue". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering lang vs laue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lang” 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