Lauf vs lui, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Lauf” is a noun and “lui” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,737
“Lauf” frequency rank: #44,056
“lui” frequency rank: 45793
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Lauf	lui
Definition	schnelle Fortbewegung zu Fuß, bei der kurzzeitig kein Bodenkontakt besteht	er

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Lauf and lui apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

Lauf

3 ch

lui

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lauf is [laʊ̯f] while lui is [lɥi]. 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 pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lauf is recorded at frequency rank #1,737, classified as anoun, pronounced [laʊ̯f]. lui is at rank #44,056, tagged as apron, pronounced [lɥi].

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 45793, this pair ranks #1,341,046 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lauf vs lui

Shared letters: lu. Private to "Lauf": af. Private to "lui": i.

"Lauf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

Lauf ← aluf · lafu · lauff · llauf · luaf

Frequency comparison

Lauf#1,737

lui#44,056

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lauf" and "lui" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lauf" is a noun and "lui" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Lauf" or "lui"?

"Lauf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,737 in our German list, against #44,056 for "lui". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Lauf vs lui

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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