Which to use
“laufe” and “läuft” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,851
- “laufe” frequency rank
- #585
- “läuft” frequency rank
- 2436
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laufe | läuft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laufen | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laufen |
Where the eye mixes laufe and läuft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses laufe with läuft
A purely visual mix-up. laufe ([ˈlaʊ̯fə]) and läuft ([lɔɪ̯ft]) 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 2436, 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]. läuft is at rank #585, tagged as averb, pronounced [lɔɪ̯ft].
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 2436, this pair ranks #2,002,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laufe vs läuft
Shared letters: flu. Private to "laufe": ae. Private to "läuft": tä.
"laufe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "läuft" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- laufe ← alufe · lafue · lauef · lauffe · llaufe · luafe
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laufe" and "läuft" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "laufe" or "läuft" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "laufe" and "läuft" 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 "läuft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,002,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laufe" and "läuft" 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 #2,002,355 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.