loh vs lol, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“loh” is a verb and “lol” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,776
“loh” frequency rank: #3,266
“lol” frequency rank: 48042
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	loh	lol
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lohen	Kürzel, das ausdrückt, dass man laut lacht beziehungsweise etwas sehr lustig findet

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set loh and lol apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

loh

3 ch

lol

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: loh is [loː] while lol is [lɔl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “loh” becomes l in “lol”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loh is recorded at frequency rank #44,776, classified as averb, pronounced [loː]. lol is at rank #3,266, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [lɔl].

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 48042, this pair ranks #1,262,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of loh vs lol

Shared letters: lo. Private to "loh": h. Private to "lol": -.

"loh" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lol" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

loh#44,776

lol#3,266

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "loh" and "lol" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "loh" is a verb and "lol" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "loh" or "lol"?

"lol" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,266 in our German list, against #44,776 for "loh". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering loh vs lol

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “loh”; for an abbrev, it's “lol”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “loh” entry
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