Which to use
“lauen” and “laufend” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,647
- “lauen” frequency rank
- #12,528
- “laufend” frequency rank
- 55175
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lauen | laufend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lau | im Gange seiend, aktuell |
Where the eye mixes lauen and laufend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lauen runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against laufend's 7 (CVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lauen and laufend
A purely visual mix-up. lauen ([ˈlaʊ̯ən]) and laufend ([ˈlaʊ̯fn̩t]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55175, 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]. laufend is at rank #12,528, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩t].
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 55175, this pair ranks #989,835 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lauen vs laufend
Shared letters: aelnu. Private to "lauen": -. Private to "laufend": df.
"lauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "laufend" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lauen" and "laufend" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lauen" or "laufend"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lauen" and "laufend" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laufend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #989,835 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lauen" and "laufend" 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 #989,835 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.