Which to use
“laue” is an adjective and “like” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,872
- “laue” frequency rank
- #4,288
- “like” frequency rank
- 43160
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laue | like |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lau | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs liken |
Where the eye mixes laue and like
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: laue vs like
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: laue is [ˈlaʊ̯ə] while like is [ˈlaɪ̯kə]. 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 43160, 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]. like is at rank #4,288, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯kə].
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 43160, this pair ranks #1,426,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laue vs like
Shared letters: el. Private to "laue": au. Private to "like": ik.
"laue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "like" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laue" and "like" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "laue" vs "like" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "laue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "like" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,426,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laue" and "like" 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 #1,426,792 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.