lasenvslöstenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,289
“lasen” frequency rank
#18,977
“lösten” frequency rank
47266
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lasen lösten
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lesen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lösen

Where the eye mixes lasen and lösten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
lasen
6 ch
lösten

Why the eye confuses lasen with lösten

A purely visual mix-up. lasen ([ˈlaːzn̩]) and lösten ([ˈløːstn̩]) 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 47266, 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]. lösten is at rank #18,977, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈløːstn̩].

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 47266, this pair ranks #1,290,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lasen vs lösten

Shared letters: elns. Private to "lasen": a. Private to "lösten": .

"lasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lösten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lasenalsen · laesn · lasenn · lasne · llasen · lsaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lasen" and "lösten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaːzn̩] versus [ˈløːstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lasen" vs "lösten" - which ranks higher?
"lösten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,977 in our German list, against #28,289 for "lasen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lasen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lösten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,290,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lasen" and "lösten" 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 #1,290,395 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