LarvevsLäuseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#39,496
“Larve” frequency rank
#43,335
“Läuse” frequency rank
82831
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Larve Läuse
Definition Jugendstadium, das sich stark vom geschlechtsreifen Tier unterscheidet und oft keinerlei Ähnlichkeit damit hat Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Laus

Where the eye mixes Larve and Läuse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Larve (CVCCV) and Läuse (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Larve
5 ch
Läuse

Visual trap between Larve and Läuse

A purely visual mix-up. Larve ([ˈlaʁfə]) and Läuse ([ˈlɔɪ̯zə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82831, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Larve is recorded at frequency rank #39,496, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʁfə]. Läuse is at rank #43,335, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯zə].

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 82831, this pair ranks #150,166 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Larve vs Läuse

Shared letters: el. Private to "Larve": arv. Private to "Läuse": suä.

"Larve" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Läuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Larve ← alrve · larev · larrve · larvve · lavre · llarve · lrave

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Larve" and "Läuse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaʁfə] versus [ˈlɔɪ̯zə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Larve" or "Läuse"?
"Larve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,496 in our German list, against #43,335 for "Läuse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Larve" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Läuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #150,166 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Larve" and "Läuse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Läuse". 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 #150,166 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