LäusevsläutenTell them apart

Quick tell: Läuse is a noun, läuten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Läuse” is a noun and “läuten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,335
“Läuse” frequency rank
#21,685
“läuten” frequency rank
65020
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Läuse läuten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Laus Geräusche durch das Bewegen einer Glocke hervorrufen

Where the eye mixes Läuse and läuten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Läuse runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against läuten's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Läuse
6 ch
läuten

Why the eye confuses Läuse with läuten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Läuse is [ˈlɔɪ̯zə] while läuten is [ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Läuse is recorded at frequency rank #43,335, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯zə]. läuten is at rank #21,685, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩].

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 65020, this pair ranks #621,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Läuse vs läuten

Shared letters: eluä. Private to "Läuse": s. Private to "läuten": nt.

"Läuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "läuten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Läuse" for "läuten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Läuse" is a noun and "läuten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Läuse" vs "läuten" - which ranks higher?
"läuten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,685 in our German list, against #43,335 for "Läuse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Läuse" and "läuten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Läuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "läuten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #621,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Läuse" and "läuten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Läuse". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #621,277 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list