lauevslawsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: laue is a adjective, laws is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“laue” is an adjective and “laws” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,872
“laue” frequency rank
#38,251
“laws” frequency rank
77123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laue laws
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lau Plural des Substantivs law

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set laue and laws apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
laue
4 ch
laws

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: laue is anadjective and lawsanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77123, 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]. laws is at rank #38,251, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 77123, this pair ranks #267,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laue vs laws

Shared letters: al. Private to "laue": eu. Private to "laws": sw.

"laue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "laws" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lauealue · laeu · llaue · luae
  • lawsalws · lasw · lawss · lawws · llaws · lwas

Frequency comparison

laue#38,872
laws#38,251

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laue" and "laws" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "laue" is an adjective and "laws" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "laue" or "laws"?
"laws" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,251 in our German list, against #38,872 for "laue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laue vs laws

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “laue”; for a noun, it's “laws”.
  • 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