Which to use
“laufe” is a verb and “Läufer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,851
- “laufe” frequency rank
- #7,641
- “Läufer” frequency rank
- 9492
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laufe | Läufer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laufen | Person, die an einem Wettlauf teilnimmt, die sich laufend vorwärtsbewegt |
Where the eye mixes laufe and Läufer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. laufe runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Läufer's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: laufe vs Läufer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: laufe is [ˈlaʊ̯fə] while Läufer is [ˈlɔɪ̯fɐ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9492, 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]. Läufer is at rank #7,641, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯fɐ].
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 9492, this pair ranks #1,979,692 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laufe vs Läufer
Shared letters: eflu. Private to "laufe": a. Private to "Läufer": rä.
"laufe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "Läufer" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- laufe ← alufe · lafue · lauef · lauffe · llaufe · luafe
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laufe" for "Läufer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "laufe" or "Läufer"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "laufe" and "Läufer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "laufe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Läufer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,979,692 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laufe" and "Läufer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Läufer vs Läufern". 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 #1,979,692 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.