langenvslargeWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: langen is a verb, large is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“langen” is a verb and “large” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,204
“langen” frequency rank
#23,208
“large” frequency rank
24412
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature langen large
Definition sich einem Gegenstand entgegen strecken, um ihn zu ergreifen groß, beträchtlich, riesig

Where the eye mixes langen and large

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. langen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against large's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
langen
5 ch
large

Visual trap between langen and large

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: langen is [ˈlaŋən] while large is [lɑːd͡ʒ]. 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 (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24412, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

langen is recorded at frequency rank #1,204, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaŋən]. large is at rank #23,208, tagged as anadv, pronounced [lɑːd͡ʒ].

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 24412, this pair ranks #1,848,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of langen vs large

Shared letters: aegl. Private to "langen": n. Private to "large": r.

"langen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "large" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • langen ← alngen · lagnen · lanegn · langenn · langgen · langne · lanngen · llangen
  • large ← alrge · lareg · largge · larrge · llarge · lrage

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "langen" for "large" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "langen" is a verb and "large" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "langen" or "large" show up more?
"langen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,204 in our German list, against #23,208 for "large". 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 "langen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "large" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,848,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "langen" and "large" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs large". 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 #1,848,027 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