LückenvsLüftenTell them apart

Which to use

“Lücken” and “Lüften” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,908
“Lücken” frequency rank
#17,355
“Lüften” frequency rank
26263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lücken Lüften
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Lücke Aussetzung der frischen Luft

Where the eye mixes Lücken and Lüften

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Lücken
6 ch
Lüften

Look-alike desk: Lücken vs Lüften

A purely visual mix-up. Lücken ([ˈlʏkn̩]) and Lüften ([ˈlʏftn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lücken is recorded at frequency rank #8,908, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlʏkn̩]. Lüften is at rank #17,355, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlʏftn̩].

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 26263, this pair ranks #1,820,738 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lücken vs Lüften

Shared letters: elnü. Private to "Lücken": ck. Private to "Lüften": ft.

"Lücken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Lüften" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Lücken" for "Lüften" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlʏkn̩] versus [ˈlʏftn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Lücken" or "Lüften"?
"Lücken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,908 in our German list, against #17,355 for "Lüften". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Lücken" and "Lüften" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lücken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lüften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,820,738 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lücken" and "Lüften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "letten vs Lüften". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,820,738 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