Which to use
“late” and “lau” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,348
- “late” frequency rank
- #16,210
- “lau” frequency rank
- 30558
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | late | lau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | spät | von einer mittleren Temperatur zwischen kühl und warm |
Letter map: late vs lau
Shared letters muted; letters that set late and lau apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
late and lau are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30558, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
late is recorded at frequency rank #14,348, classified as anadj, pronounced […]. lau is at rank #16,210, tagged as anadj, pronounced [laʊ̯].
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 30558, this pair ranks #1,745,467 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of late vs lau
Shared letters: al. Private to "late": et. Private to "lau": u.
"late" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- late ← laet · llate · ltae
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "late" and "lau" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "late" or "lau"?
What to do next
You've compared "late" and "lau". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "late" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,745,467 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "late" and "lau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lau". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.