lohvsLöweWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: loh is a verb, Löwe is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#44,776
“loh” frequency rank
#8,752
“Löwe” frequency rank
53528
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loh Löwe
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lohen (in Afrika sowie im westlichen Indien beheimatetes, zu den Großkatzen zählendes) Raubtier mit langem Schwanz, dessen kurzes Fell graugelb bis ockerfarben gefärbt ist und deren Männchen eine lange Mähne um Nacken und Schultern besitzen

Where the eye mixes loh and Löwe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. loh runs 3 letters (CVC) against Löwe's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
loh
4 ch
Löwe

Visual trap between loh and Löwe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: loh is [loː] while Löwe is [ˈløːvə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53528, 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]. Löwe is at rank #8,752, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈløːvə].

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 53528, this pair ranks #1,054,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of loh vs Löwe

Shared letters: l. Private to "loh": ho. Private to "Löwe": ewö.

"loh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Löwe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "loh" for "Löwe" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "loh" is a verb and "Löwe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "loh" or "Löwe"?
"Löwe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,752 in our German list, against #44,776 for "loh". 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 "loh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Löwe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,054,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "loh" and "Löwe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loh vs Lori". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,054,442 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