errorvsLemkeTell them apart

Quick tell: error is a noun, Lemke is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“error” is a noun and “Lemke” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,958
“error” frequency rank
#35,888
“Lemke” frequency rank
57846
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature error Lemke
Definition Fehler, Irrtum, Schnitzer deutschsprachiger Nachname, Familienname

Letter map: error vs Lemke

Shared letters muted; letters that set error and Lemke apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. error (VCCVC) and Lemke (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
error
5 ch
Lemke

Grammar separator: error vs Lemke

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: error is anoun and Lemkeaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57846, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

error is recorded at frequency rank #21,958, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. Lemke is at rank #35,888, tagged as aname, pronounced […].

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 57846, this pair ranks #885,507 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of error vs Lemke

Shared letters: e. Private to "error": or. Private to "Lemke": klm.

"error" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Lemke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erroreror · erorr · errorr · errro · reror
  • Lemkeelmke · lekme · lemek · lemkke · lemmke · llemke · lmeke

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "error" for "Lemke" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "error" is a noun and "Lemke" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "error" or "Lemke" show up more?
"error" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,958 in our German list, against #35,888 for "Lemke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "error" vs "Lemke" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "error" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lemke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #885,507 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "error" and "Lemke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lemke vs puzzles". 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 #885,507 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