Which to use
“lässt” is a verb and “less” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #318
- “lässt” frequency rank
- #30,180
- “less” frequency rank
- 30498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lässt | less |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lassen | weniger von etwas |
Where the eye mixes lässt and less
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lässt is [lɛst] while less is [lɛs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lässt is recorded at frequency rank #318, classified as averb, pronounced [lɛst]. less is at rank #30,180, tagged as anadv, pronounced [lɛs].
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 30498, this pair ranks #1,746,664 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lässt vs less
Shared letters: ls. Private to "lässt": tä. Private to "less": e.
"lässt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "less" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- less ← elss · les · leß · lless · lses