Which to use
“länger” is an adjective and “längst” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #864
- “länger” frequency rank
- #1,520
- “längst” frequency rank
- 2384
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | länger | längst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prädikative und adverbielle Form des Komparativs des Adjektivs lang | schon lange, seit langem, seit langer/längerer Zeit |
Where the eye mixes länger and längst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. länger (CVCCVC) and längst (CVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: länger vs längst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: länger is [ˈlɛŋɐ] while längst is [lɛŋst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
länger is recorded at frequency rank #864, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛŋɐ]. längst is at rank #1,520, tagged as anadv, pronounced [lɛŋst].
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 2384, this pair ranks #2,002,492 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of länger vs längst
Shared letters: glnä. Private to "länger": er. Private to "längst": st.
"länger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "längst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "länger" and "längst" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "länger" or "längst" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "länger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "längst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,002,492 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "länger" and "längst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lädst vs längst". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,002,492 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.