Which to use
“langen” and “lenken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,204
- “langen” frequency rank
- #8,098
- “lenken” frequency rank
- 9302
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | langen | lenken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich einem Gegenstand entgegen strecken, um ihn zu ergreifen | an einen bestimmten Ort, an ein Ziel führen |
Where the eye mixes langen and lenken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. langen and lenken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses langen with lenken
A purely visual mix-up. langen ([ˈlaŋən]) and lenken ([ˈlɛŋkn̩]) 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 9302, 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]. lenken is at rank #8,098, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛŋkn̩].
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 9302, this pair ranks #1,980,607 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of langen vs lenken
Shared letters: eln. Private to "langen": ag. Private to "lenken": k.
"langen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lenken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "langen" and "lenken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "langen" or "lenken" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "langen" and "lenken" 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 "lenken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,980,607 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "langen" and "lenken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lenken 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 #1,980,607 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.