Which to use
“lauen” is an adjective and “laufen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,647
- “lauen” frequency rank
- #765
- “laufen” frequency rank
- 43412
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lauen | laufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lau | sich auf den Beinen oder Gliedmaßen fortbewegen; regional verschieden hat dieses Verb die Grundbedeutung „schnell gehen“ oder mit „mäßiger Geschwindigkeit gehen“, aber es wird überregional für mäßiges (bzw. langsames) Gehen in dem Ausdruck „das Kind läuft schon“ benutzt und wird in entsprechendem Kontext auch in solchen Regionen als mäßiges Gehen verstanden, wo üblicherweise „gehen“ statt „laufen“ benutzt wird (z.B. „nach Hause laufen“, süddeutsch und österreichisch „nach Hause gehen“) |
Where the eye mixes lauen and laufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lauen runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against laufen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses lauen with laufen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lauen is [ˈlaʊ̯ən] while laufen is [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43412, 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]. laufen is at rank #765, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩].
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 43412, this pair ranks #1,418,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lauen vs laufen
Shared letters: aelnu. Private to "lauen": -. Private to "laufen": f.
"lauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "laufen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lauen" and "laufen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lauen" or "laufen"?
After this comparison
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 "laufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,418,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lauen" and "laufen" 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 #1,418,939 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.