Which to use
“laufe” and “liefe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,851
- “laufe” frequency rank
- #46,812
- “liefe” frequency rank
- 48663
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laufe | liefe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laufen | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs laufen |
Where the eye mixes laufe and liefe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. laufe and liefe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses laufe with liefe
A purely visual mix-up. laufe ([ˈlaʊ̯fə]) and liefe ([ˈliːfə]) 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 48663, 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]. liefe is at rank #46,812, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈliːfə].
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 48663, this pair ranks #1,240,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laufe vs liefe
Shared letters: efl. Private to "laufe": au. Private to "liefe": i.
"laufe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "liefe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laufe" and "liefe" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "laufe" vs "liefe" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "laufe" and "liefe" 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 "liefe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,240,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laufe" and "liefe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liefe vs Lienz". 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 #1,240,220 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.