läutenvslautetenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,685
“läuten” frequency rank
#44,765
“lauteten” frequency rank
66450
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes läuten and lauteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. läuten runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against lauteten's 8 (CVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
läuten
8 ch
lauteten

Look-alike desk: läuten vs lauteten

A purely visual mix-up. läuten ([ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩]) and lauteten ([ˈlaʊ̯tətn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66450, 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]. lauteten is at rank #44,765, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯tətn̩].

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 66450, this pair ranks #572,838 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of läuten vs lauteten

Shared letters: elntu. Private to "läuten": ä. Private to "lauteten": a.

"läuten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "lauteten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lautetenaluteten · latueten · lauetten · lauteetn · lautetenn · lautetne · lautetten · lautteen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "läuten" and "lauteten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈlaʊ̯tətn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "läuten" vs "lauteten" - which ranks higher?
"läuten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,685 in our German list, against #44,765 for "lauteten". 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 "läuten" and "lauteten" 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 "lauteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #572,838 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "läuten" and "lauteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Latten vs lauteten". 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 #572,838 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