langenvslassenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,204
“langen” frequency rank
#162
“lassen” frequency rank
1366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature langen lassen
Definition sich einem Gegenstand entgegen strecken, um ihn zu ergreifen nichts verändern und somit alles so lassen, wie es ist; etwas beim Status quo belassen

Where the eye mixes langen and lassen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
langen
6 ch
lassen

Look-alike desk: langen vs lassen

A purely visual mix-up. langen ([ˈlaŋən]) and lassen ([ˈlasn̩]) 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 1366, 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]. lassen is at rank #162, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlasn̩].

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 1366, this pair ranks #2,004,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of langen vs lassen

Shared letters: aeln. Private to "langen": g. Private to "lassen": s.

"langen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lassen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • langenalngen · lagnen · lanegn · langenn · langgen · langne · lanngen · llangen
  • lassenalssen · lasesn · lassenn · lassne · laßen · llassen · lsasen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "langen" for "lassen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaŋən] versus [ˈlasn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "langen" or "lassen"?
"lassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #162 in our German list, against #1,204 for "langen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "langen" and "lassen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "langen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lassen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,004,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "langen" and "lassen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "langen vs lenzen". 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 #2,004,477 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