Los vs lösch, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#469
“Los” frequency rank: #20,332
“lösch” frequency rank: 20801
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Los	lösch
Definition	Schicksal, unbeeinflussbares Geschick	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs löschen

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

Los

5 ch

lösch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Los is [loːs] while lösch is [lœʃ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20801, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Los is recorded at frequency rank #469, classified as anoun, pronounced [loːs]. lösch is at rank #20,332, tagged as averb, pronounced [lœʃ].

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 20801, this pair ranks #1,893,595 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Los vs lösch

Shared letters: ls. Private to "Los": o. Private to "lösch": chö.

"Los" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lösch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequency comparison

Los#469

lösch#20,332

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Los" and "lösch" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Los" is a noun and "lösch" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Los" or "lösch"?

"Los" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #469 in our German list, against #20,332 for "lösch". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Los vs lösch

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Los”; for a verb, it's “lösch”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Los” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable