LautvsLotWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#505
“Laut” frequency rank
#14,628
“Lot” frequency rank
15133
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Laut Lot
Definition ein Geräusch zulaufendes Blei- oder Stahlgewicht an einer Schnur zur Bestimmung der Senkrechten

Where the eye mixes Laut and Lot

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Laut
3 ch
Lot

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Laut ([laʊ̯t]) and Lot ([loːt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Laut is recorded at frequency rank #505, classified as anoun, pronounced [laʊ̯t]. Lot is at rank #14,628, tagged as anoun, pronounced [loːt].

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 15133, this pair ranks #1,946,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Laut vs Lot

Shared letters: lt. Private to "Laut": au. Private to "Lot": o.

"Laut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Lot" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lautalut · latu · lautt · llaut · luat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Laut" and "Lot" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([laʊ̯t] versus [loːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Laut" or "Lot"?
"Laut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #505 in our German list, against #14,628 for "Lot". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Laut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,946,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Laut" and "Lot" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lori vs Lot". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list