Which to use
“Läuse” is a noun and “lese” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,335
- “Läuse” frequency rank
- #2,907
- “lese” frequency rank
- 46242
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Läuse | lese |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Laus | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lesen |
Where the eye mixes Läuse and lese
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Läuse and lese
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Läuse is [ˈlɔɪ̯zə] while lese is [ˈleːzə]. 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 46242, 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]. lese is at rank #2,907, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːzə].
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 46242, this pair ranks #1,325,833 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Läuse vs lese
Shared letters: els. Private to "Läuse": uä. Private to "lese": -.
"Läuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "lese" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lese ← else · lesse · llese · lsee
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Läuse" and "lese" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Läuse" or "lese" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Läuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lese" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,325,833 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Läuse" and "lese" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Läuse". 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 #1,325,833 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.