Which to use
“laufe” and “laufen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,851
- “laufe” frequency rank
- #765
- “laufen” frequency rank
- 2616
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laufe | laufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laufen | sich auf den Beinen oder Gliedmaßen fortbewegen; regional verschieden hat dieses Verb die Grundbedeutung „schnell gehen“ oder mit „mäßiger Geschwindigkeit gehen“, aber es wird überregional für mäßiges (bzw. langsames) Gehen in dem Ausdruck „das Kind läuft schon“ benutzt und wird in entsprechendem Kontext auch in solchen Regionen als mäßiges Gehen verstanden, wo üblicherweise „gehen“ statt „laufen“ benutzt wird (z.B. „nach Hause laufen“, süddeutsch und österreichisch „nach Hause gehen“) |
Where the eye mixes laufe and laufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: laufe vs laufen
A purely visual mix-up. laufe ([ˈlaʊ̯fə]) and laufen ([ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “laufe” sits inside “laufen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2616, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laufe is recorded at frequency rank #1,851, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fə]. laufen is at rank #765, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩].
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 2616, this pair ranks #2,001,954 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laufe vs laufen
Shared letters: aeflu. Private to "laufe": -. Private to "laufen": n.
"laufe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "laufen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laufe" and "laufen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "laufe" or "laufen"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "laufe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,001,954 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laufe" and "laufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs laufe". 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 #2,001,954 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.