Which to use
“laue” is an adjective and “lebe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,872
- “laue” frequency rank
- #2,905
- “lebe” frequency rank
- 41777
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laue | lebe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lau | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leben |
Where the eye mixes laue and lebe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between laue and lebe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: laue is [ˈlaʊ̯ə] while lebe is [ˈleːbə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41777, 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]. lebe is at rank #2,905, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːbə].
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 41777, this pair ranks #1,469,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laue vs lebe
Shared letters: el. Private to "laue": au. Private to "lebe": b.
"laue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "lebe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laue" and "lebe" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "laue" vs "lebe" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "laue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lebe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,469,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laue" and "lebe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs laue". 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 #1,469,365 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.