LauervslauterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Lauer is a noun, lauter is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Lauer” is a noun and “lauter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,632
“Lauer” frequency rank
#2,982
“lauter” frequency rank
22614
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lauer lauter
Definition Hinterhalt einer ehrlichen, redlichen, aufrichtigen Verhaltensweise entsprechend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Lauer and lauter apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Lauer
6 ch
lauter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lauer is [ˈlaʊ̯ɐ] while lauter is [ˈlaʊ̯tɐ]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22614, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lauer is recorded at frequency rank #19,632, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ɐ]. lauter is at rank #2,982, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯tɐ].

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 22614, this pair ranks #1,871,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lauer vs lauter

Shared letters: aelru. Private to "Lauer": -. Private to "lauter": t.

"Lauer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "lauter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Laueraluer · laeur · lauerr · laure · llauer · luaer
  • lauteraluter · latuer · lauetr · lauterr · lautre · lautter · llauter · luater

Frequency comparison

Lauer#19,632
lauter#2,982

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lauer" and "lauter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lauer" is a noun and "lauter" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Lauer" or "lauter"?
"lauter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,982 in our German list, against #19,632 for "Lauer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Lauer vs lauter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Lauer”; for an adjective, it's “lauter”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Lauer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list