Which to use
“langen” is a verb and “lauen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,204
- “langen” frequency rank
- #42,647
- “lauen” frequency rank
- 43851
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | langen | lauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich einem Gegenstand entgegen strecken, um ihn zu ergreifen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lau |
Where the eye mixes langen and lauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. langen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against lauen's 5 (CVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses langen with lauen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: langen is [ˈlaŋən] while lauen is [ˈlaʊ̯ən]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43851, 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]. lauen is at rank #42,647, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ən].
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 43851, this pair ranks #1,404,899 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of langen vs lauen
Shared letters: aeln. Private to "langen": g. Private to "lauen": u.
"langen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "langen" for "lauen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "langen" vs "lauen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "langen" and "lauen" 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 "lauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,404,899 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "langen" and "lauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs lauen". 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 #1,404,899 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.