lautetevslautetenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,959
“lautete” frequency rank
#44,765
“lauteten” frequency rank
52724
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lautete lauteten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lauten 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lauten

Where the eye mixes lautete and lauteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. lautete runs 7 letters (CVVCVCV) against lauteten's 8 (CVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
lautete
8 ch
lauteten

Why the eye confuses lautete with lauteten

A purely visual mix-up. lautete ([ˈlaʊ̯tətə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “lautete” sits inside “lauteten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52724, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lautete is recorded at frequency rank #7,959, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯tətə]. 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 52724, this pair ranks #1,085,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lautete vs lauteten

Shared letters: aeltu. Private to "lautete": -. Private to "lauteten": n.

"lautete" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV  ·  "lauteten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lautete ← alutete · latuete · lauette · lauteet · lautette · lauttee · lauttete · llautete
  • lauteten ← aluteten · latueten · lauetten · lauteetn · lautetenn · lautetne · lautetten · lautteen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lautete" and "lauteten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaʊ̯tətə] versus [ˈlaʊ̯tətn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lautete" or "lauteten"?
"lautete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,959 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

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lautete" 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 #1,085,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lautete" 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 #1,085,758 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