lassenvslistenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#162
“lassen” frequency rank
#5,978
“listen” frequency rank
6140
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lassen listen
Definition nichts verändern und somit alles so lassen, wie es ist; etwas beim Status quo belassen etwas mündlich aufzählen oder schriftlich anführen

Where the eye mixes lassen and listen

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

6 ch
lassen
6 ch
listen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lassen ([ˈlasn̩]) and listen ([ˈlɪstn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lassen is recorded at frequency rank #162, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlasn̩]. listen is at rank #5,978, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɪstn̩].

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 6140, this pair ranks #1,992,586 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lassen vs listen

Shared letters: elns. Private to "lassen": a. Private to "listen": it.

"lassen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "listen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lassenalssen · lasesn · lassenn · lassne · laßen · llassen · lsasen
  • listenilsten · lisetn · lissten · listenn · listne · listten · litsen · llisten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lassen" and "listen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlasn̩] versus [ˈlɪstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lassen" or "listen"?
"lassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #162 in our German list, against #5,978 for "listen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list