LängevsLauteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,930
“Länge” frequency rank
#6,948
“Laute” frequency rank
8878
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Länge Laute
Definition eine horizontale Ausdehnung, Dimension Saiteninstrument mit birnenförmigem Korpus und angesetztem Hals

Where the eye mixes Länge and Laute

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Länge
5 ch
Laute

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Länge ([ˈlɛŋə]) and Laute ([ˈlaʊ̯tə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8878, 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]. Laute is at rank #6,948, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯tə].

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 8878, this pair ranks #1,982,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Länge vs Laute

Shared letters: el. Private to "Länge": gnä. Private to "Laute": atu.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lautealute · latue · lauet · llaute · luate

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Länge" and "Laute" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɛŋə] versus [ˈlaʊ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Länge" or "Laute"?
"Länge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,930 in our German list, against #6,948 for "Laute". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Länge" and "Laute". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Länge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Laute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,982,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Länge" and "Laute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Laute". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list