Which to use
“laufe” is a verb and “Luft” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,851
- “laufe” frequency rank
- #818
- “Luft” frequency rank
- 2669
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laufe | Luft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laufen | überwiegend aus Stickstoff und Sauerstoff bestehendes Gasgemisch, das Lebewesen zum Atmen benötigen |
Where the eye mixes laufe and Luft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses laufe with Luft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: laufe is [ˈlaʊ̯fə] while Luft is [lʊft]. 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 2669, 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]. Luft is at rank #818, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lʊft].
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 2669, this pair ranks #2,001,839 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laufe vs Luft
Shared letters: flu. Private to "laufe": ae. Private to "Luft": t.
"laufe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "Luft" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "laufe" and "Luft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "laufe" vs "Luft" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "laufe" and "Luft" 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 "Luft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,001,839 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laufe" and "Luft" 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 #2,001,839 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.