LaufvsluzWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Lauf” and “luz” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,737
“Lauf” frequency rank
#35,899
“luz” frequency rank
37636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lauf luz
Definition schnelle Fortbewegung zu Fuß, bei der kurzzeitig kein Bodenkontakt besteht etwas, das Dinge sichtbar macht oder Beleuchtung produziert

Where the eye mixes Lauf and luz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Lauf
3 ch
luz

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Lauf ([laʊ̯f]) and luz ([luʃ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37636, 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]. luz is at rank #35,899, tagged as anoun, pronounced [luʃ].

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 37636, this pair ranks #1,584,980 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lauf vs luz

Shared letters: lu. Private to "Lauf": af. Private to "luz": z.

"Lauf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "luz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Laufaluf · lafu · lauff · llauf · luaf

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lauf" and "luz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([laʊ̯f] versus [luʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Lauf" or "luz"?
"Lauf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,737 in our German list, against #35,899 for "luz". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "Lauf" and "luz". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lauf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "luz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,584,980 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lauf" and "luz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lai vs luz". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list