lauevslauenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,872
“laue” frequency rank
#42,647
“lauen” frequency rank
81519
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laue lauen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lau Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lau

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set laue and lauen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
laue
5 ch
lauen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. laue ([ˈlaʊ̯ə]) and lauen ([ˈlaʊ̯ən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “laue” sits inside “lauen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81519, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laue is recorded at frequency rank #38,872, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ə]. lauen is at rank #42,647, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ən].

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 81519, this pair ranks #174,247 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laue vs lauen

Shared letters: aelu. Private to "laue": -. Private to "lauen": n.

"laue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "lauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lauealue · laeu · llaue · luae
  • lauenaluen · laeun · llauen · luaen

Frequency comparison

laue#38,872
lauen#42,647

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laue" and "lauen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaʊ̯ə] versus [ˈlaʊ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "laue" or "lauen"?
"laue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,872 in our German list, against #42,647 for "lauen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laue vs lauen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “laue” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list