Which to use
“langsam” and “langsamen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #751
- “langsam” frequency rank
- #16,478
- “langsamen” frequency rank
- 17229
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | langsam | langsamen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine niedrige Geschwindigkeit aufweisend, lange Zeit benötigend | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs langsam |
Where the eye mixes langsam and langsamen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses langsam with langsamen
A purely visual mix-up. langsam ([ˈlaŋzaːm]) and langsamen ([ˈlaŋzaːmən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “langsam” sits inside “langsamen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
langsam is recorded at frequency rank #751, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaŋzaːm]. langsamen is at rank #16,478, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaŋzaːmən].
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 17229, this pair ranks #1,929,233 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of langsam vs langsamen
Shared letters: aglmns. Private to "langsam": -. Private to "langsamen": e.
"langsam" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "langsamen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "langsam" for "langsamen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "langsam" vs "langsamen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "langsam" and "langsamen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "langsam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "langsamen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,929,233 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "langsam" and "langsamen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "langsamen vs langsames". 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 #1,929,233 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.