LängevsLäuseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,930
“Länge” frequency rank
#43,335
“Läuse” frequency rank
45265
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Länge Läuse
Definition eine horizontale Ausdehnung, Dimension Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Laus

Where the eye mixes Länge and Läuse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Länge (CVCCV) and Läuse (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Länge
5 ch
Läuse

Visual trap between Länge and Läuse

A purely visual mix-up. Länge ([ˈlɛŋə]) and Läuse ([ˈlɔɪ̯zə]) 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 45265, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Länge is recorded at frequency rank #1,930, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛŋə]. Läuse is at rank #43,335, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯zə].

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 45265, this pair ranks #1,358,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Länge vs Läuse

Shared letters: elä. Private to "Länge": gn. Private to "Läuse": su.

"Länge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Läuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Länge" and "Läuse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɛŋə] versus [ˈlɔɪ̯zə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Länge" or "Läuse"?
"Länge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,930 in our German list, against #43,335 for "Läuse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Länge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Läuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,358,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Länge" and "Läuse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Läuse". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,358,937 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