Which to use
“losen” and “lösten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,422
- “losen” frequency rank
- #18,977
- “lösten” frequency rank
- 41399
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | losen | lösten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Entscheidung per Los herbeiführen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lösen |
Where the eye mixes losen and lösten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. losen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lösten's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: losen vs lösten
A purely visual mix-up. losen ([ˈloːzn̩]) and lösten ([ˈløːstn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
losen is recorded at frequency rank #22,422, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈloːzn̩]. lösten is at rank #18,977, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈløːstn̩].
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 41399, this pair ranks #1,480,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of losen vs lösten
Shared letters: elns. Private to "losen": o. Private to "lösten": tö.
"losen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lösten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- losen ← llosen · loesn · losenn · losne · lossen · lsoen · olsen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "losen" for "lösten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "losen" or "lösten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "losen" and "lösten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "losen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lösten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,480,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "losen" and "lösten" 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 #1,480,640 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.