Which to use
“Latten” is a noun and “laufen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,309
- “Latten” frequency rank
- #765
- “laufen” frequency rank
- 42074
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Latten | laufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Latte | sich auf den Beinen oder Gliedmaßen fortbewegen; regional verschieden hat dieses Verb die Grundbedeutung „schnell gehen“ oder mit „mäßiger Geschwindigkeit gehen“, aber es wird überregional für mäßiges (bzw. langsames) Gehen in dem Ausdruck „das Kind läuft schon“ benutzt und wird in entsprechendem Kontext auch in solchen Regionen als mäßiges Gehen verstanden, wo üblicherweise „gehen“ statt „laufen“ benutzt wird (z.B. „nach Hause laufen“, süddeutsch und österreichisch „nach Hause gehen“) |
Where the eye mixes Latten and laufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Latten (CVCCVC) and laufen (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between Latten and laufen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Latten is [ˈlatn̩] while laufen is [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Latten is recorded at frequency rank #41,309, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlatn̩]. laufen is at rank #765, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩].
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 42074, this pair ranks #1,460,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Latten vs laufen
Shared letters: aeln. Private to "Latten": t. Private to "laufen": fu.
"Latten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "laufen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Latten" and "laufen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Latten" or "laufen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Latten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,460,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Latten" and "laufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Laatzen vs Latten". 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 #1,460,331 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.