lassenvslästernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#162
“lassen” frequency rank
#31,671
“lästern” frequency rank
31833
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lassen lästern
Definition nichts verändern und somit alles so lassen, wie es ist; etwas beim Status quo belassen durch verächtliches Gerede beleidigen (insbesondere Gott, etwas Heiliges)

Where the eye mixes lassen and lästern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lassen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against lästern's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
lassen
7 ch
lästern

Why the eye confuses lassen with lästern

A purely visual mix-up. lassen ([ˈlasn̩]) and lästern ([ˈlɛstɐn]) 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 31833, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lassen is recorded at frequency rank #162, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlasn̩]. lästern is at rank #31,671, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛstɐn].

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 31833, this pair ranks #1,720,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lassen vs lästern

Shared letters: elns. Private to "lassen": a. Private to "lästern": rtä.

"lassen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lästern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lassen ← alssen · lasesn · lassenn · lassne · laßen · llassen · lsasen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lassen" and "lästern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlasn̩] versus [ˈlɛstɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lassen" vs "lästern" - which ranks higher?
"lassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #162 in our German list, against #31,671 for "lästern". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "lassen" and "lästern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lästern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,720,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lassen" and "lästern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs lästern". 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 #1,720,089 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