läutenvslauteteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,685
“läuten” frequency rank
#7,959
“lautete” frequency rank
29644
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature läuten lautete
Definition Geräusche durch das Bewegen einer Glocke hervorrufen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lauten

Where the eye mixes läuten and lautete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. läuten runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against lautete's 7 (CVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
läuten
7 ch
lautete

Visual trap between läuten and lautete

A purely visual mix-up. läuten ([ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩]) and lautete ([ˈlaʊ̯tətə]) 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 29644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

läuten is recorded at frequency rank #21,685, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩]. lautete is at rank #7,959, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯tətə].

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 29644, this pair ranks #1,763,004 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of läuten vs lautete

Shared letters: eltu. Private to "läuten": nä. Private to "lautete": a.

"läuten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "lautete" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lautete ← alutete · latuete · lauette · lauteet · lautette · lauttee · lauttete · llautete

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "läuten" and "lautete" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈlaʊ̯tətə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "läuten" or "lautete"?
"lautete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,959 in our German list, against #21,685 for "läuten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "läuten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lautete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,763,004 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "läuten" and "lautete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Laatzen vs läuten". 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 #1,763,004 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