LackevsLemkeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#45,413
“Lacke” frequency rank
#35,888
“Lemke” frequency rank
81301
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lacke Lemke
Definition kleine Flüssigkeitsansammlung; Ansammlung von Regenwasser, Pfütze, kleines Gewässer deutschsprachiger Nachname, Familienname

Letter map: Lacke vs Lemke

Shared letters muted; letters that set Lacke and Lemke apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. Lacke and Lemke follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Lacke
5 ch
Lemke

Role in the sentence - Lacke and Lemke

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Lacke is anoun and Lemkeaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lacke is recorded at frequency rank #45,413, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlakə]. 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 81301, this pair ranks #178,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Lacke vs Lemke

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "Lacke": ac. Private to "Lemke": m.

"Lacke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Lemke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lacke ← alcke · laccke · lacek · lackke · lakce · lcake · llacke
  • Lemke ← elmke · lekme · lemek · lemkke · lemmke · llemke · lmeke

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lacke" and "Lemke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lacke" is a noun and "Lemke" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Lacke" vs "Lemke" - which ranks higher?
"Lemke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,888 in our German list, against #45,413 for "Lacke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Lacke" and "Lemke".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lacke" 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 #178,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lacke" and "Lemke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lacke vs lame". 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 #178,425 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