LautvslawsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Laut” and “laws” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#505
“Laut” frequency rank
#38,251
“laws” frequency rank
38756
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Laut laws
Definition ein Geräusch Plural des Substantivs law

Letter map: Laut vs laws

Shared letters muted; letters that set Laut and laws apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. Laut (CVVC) and laws (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Laut
4 ch
laws

Corpus notes: Laut and laws

Laut and laws are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Laut is recorded at frequency rank #505, classified as anoun, pronounced [laʊ̯t]. laws is at rank #38,251, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 38756, this pair ranks #1,555,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Laut vs laws

Shared letters: al. Private to "Laut": tu. Private to "laws": sw.

"Laut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "laws" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Laut ← alut · latu · lautt · llaut · luat
  • laws ← alws · lasw · lawss · lawws · llaws · lwas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Laut" and "laws" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "Laut" vs "laws" - which ranks higher?
"Laut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #505 in our German list, against #38,251 for "laws". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

You've compared "Laut" and "laws". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Laut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "laws" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,555,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Laut" and "laws" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laws vs puzzles". 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 #1,555,454 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