LattenvsletterConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#41,309
“Latten” frequency rank
#29,681
“letter” frequency rank
70990
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Latten letter
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Latte Brief

Where the eye mixes Latten and letter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Latten and letter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Latten
6 ch
letter

Visual trap between Latten and letter

A purely visual mix-up. Latten ([ˈlatn̩]) and letter ([letə(r)]) 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 70990, 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]. letter is at rank #29,681, tagged as anoun, pronounced [letə(r)].

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 70990, this pair ranks #429,870 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Latten vs letter

Shared letters: elt. Private to "Latten": an. Private to "letter": r.

"Latten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "letter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Latten ← lattenn · lattne · llatten · ltaten
  • letter ← eltter · leter · letetr · letterr · lettre · lletter · lteter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Latten" and "letter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlatn̩] versus [letə(r)]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Latten" or "letter"?
"letter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,681 in our German list, against #41,309 for "Latten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Latten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "letter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #429,870 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Latten" and "letter" 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 #429,870 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