Which to use
“laufen” is a verb and “Lautes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #765
- “laufen” frequency rank
- #17,352
- “Lautes” frequency rank
- 18117
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laufen | Lautes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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“) | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Laut |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set laufen and Lautes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
laufen and Lautes form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laufen is recorded at frequency rank #765, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]. Lautes is at rank #17,352, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯təs].
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 18117, this pair ranks #1,921,237 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laufen" and "Lautes" be used interchangeably?
Remembering laufen vs Lautes
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “laufen”; for a noun, it's “Lautes”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “laufen” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable