Which to use
“lauen” is an adjective and “Läufer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,647
- “lauen” frequency rank
- #7,641
- “Läufer” frequency rank
- 50288
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lauen | Läufer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lau | Person, die an einem Wettlauf teilnimmt, die sich laufend vorwärtsbewegt |
Where the eye mixes lauen and Läufer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lauen runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against Läufer'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 Läufer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lauen is [ˈlaʊ̯ən] while Läufer is [ˈlɔɪ̯fɐ]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50288, 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]. Läufer is at rank #7,641, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯fɐ].
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 50288, this pair ranks #1,179,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lauen vs Läufer
Shared letters: elu. Private to "lauen": an. Private to "Läufer": frä.
"lauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "Läufer" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lauen ← aluen · laeun · llauen · luaen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lauen" and "Läufer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lauen" vs "Läufer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lauen" and "Läufer" 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 "Läufer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,179,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lauen" and "Läufer" 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 #1,179,360 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.