Which to use
“lauen” is an adjective and “laufe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,647
- “lauen” frequency rank
- #1,851
- “laufe” frequency rank
- 44498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lauen | laufe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lau | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laufen |
Where the eye mixes lauen and laufe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lauen (CVVVC) and laufe (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between lauen and laufe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lauen is [ˈlaʊ̯ən] while laufe is [ˈlaʊ̯fə]. 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 44498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lauen is recorded at frequency rank #42,647, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ən]. laufe is at rank #1,851, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fə].
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 44498, this pair ranks #1,384,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lauen vs laufe
Shared letters: aelu. Private to "lauen": n. Private to "laufe": f.
"lauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "laufe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lauen" and "laufe" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lauen" vs "laufe" - 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 "lauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laufe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,384,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lauen" and "laufe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs lauen". 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 #1,384,283 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.