Which to use
“Laufbahn” and “Laufband” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,402
- “Laufbahn” frequency rank
- #36,473
- “Laufband” frequency rank
- 45875
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Laufbahn | Laufband |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | persönliche Karriere eines Menschen in seinem Berufsleben | motorbetriebenes Fitnessgerät mit einem endlosen, umlaufenden Band, auf dem Personen gehen oder laufen, ohne sich dabei räumlich fortzubewegen |
Where the eye mixes Laufbahn and Laufband
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Laufbahn and Laufband follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Laufbahn with Laufband
A purely visual mix-up. Laufbahn ([ˈlaʊ̯fˌbaːn]) and Laufband ([ˈlaʊ̯fˌbant]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Laufbahn is recorded at frequency rank #9,402, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fˌbaːn]. Laufband is at rank #36,473, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fˌbant].
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 45875, this pair ranks #1,338,184 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Laufbahn vs Laufband
Shared letters: abflnu. Private to "Laufbahn": h. Private to "Laufband": d.
"Laufbahn" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "Laufband" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Laufbahn" for "Laufband" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Laufbahn" or "Laufband"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Laufbahn" and "Laufband" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Laufbahn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Laufband" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,338,184 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Laufbahn" and "Laufband" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Laufband vs laufend". 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 #1,338,184 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.