Which to use
“lasen” and “lauern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,289
- “lasen” frequency rank
- #23,210
- “lauern” frequency rank
- 51499
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lasen | lauern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lesen | im Hintergrund beobachten, ausspähen |
Where the eye mixes lasen and lauern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lasen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lauern's 6 (CVVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lasen and lauern
A purely visual mix-up. lasen ([ˈlaːzn̩]) and lauern ([ˈlaʊ̯ɐn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lasen is recorded at frequency rank #28,289, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaːzn̩]. lauern is at rank #23,210, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ɐn].
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 51499, this pair ranks #1,133,204 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lasen vs lauern
Shared letters: aeln. Private to "lasen": s. Private to "lauern": ru.
"lasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lauern" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lasen" for "lauern" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lasen" vs "lauern" - which ranks higher?
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 "lasen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lauern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,133,204 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lasen" and "lauern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lasen vs Lasern". 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 #1,133,204 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.