Which to use
“loben” and “losen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,688
- “loben” frequency rank
- #22,422
- “losen” frequency rank
- 33110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loben | losen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine wertschätzende Aussage machen | eine Entscheidung per Los herbeiführen |
Where the eye mixes loben and losen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses loben with losen
A purely visual mix-up. loben ([ˈloːbn̩]) and losen ([ˈloːzn̩]) 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 a single letter - b in “loben” becomes s in “losen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loben is recorded at frequency rank #10,688, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈloːbn̩]. losen is at rank #22,422, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈloːzn̩].
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 33110, this pair ranks #1,693,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of loben vs losen
Shared letters: elno. Private to "loben": b. Private to "losen": s.
"loben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "losen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "loben" for "losen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "loben" vs "losen" - which ranks higher?
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 "loben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "losen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,693,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loben" and "losen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs losen". 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 #1,693,093 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.