Which to use
“litten” is a verb and “Lotsen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,221
- “litten” frequency rank
- #45,433
- “Lotsen” frequency rank
- 68654
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | litten | Lotsen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leiden | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Lotse |
Where the eye mixes litten and Lotsen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. litten and Lotsen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: litten vs Lotsen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: litten is [ˈlɪtn̩] while Lotsen is [ˈloːt͡sn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
litten is recorded at frequency rank #23,221, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɪtn̩]. Lotsen is at rank #45,433, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈloːt͡sn̩].
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 68654, this pair ranks #501,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of litten vs Lotsen
Shared letters: elnt. Private to "litten": i. Private to "Lotsen": os.
"litten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Lotsen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "litten" for "Lotsen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "litten" or "Lotsen"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "litten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lotsen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #501,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "litten" and "Lotsen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Loses vs Lotsen". 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 #501,102 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.