LackevslikeConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#45,413
“Lacke” frequency rank
#4,288
“like” frequency rank
49701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lacke like
Definition kleine Flüssigkeitsansammlung; Ansammlung von Regenwasser, Pfütze, kleines Gewässer 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs liken

Where the eye mixes Lacke and like

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Lacke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against like's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Lacke
4 ch
like

Visual trap between Lacke and like

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lacke is [ˈlakə] while like is [ˈlaɪ̯kə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 49701, 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]. like is at rank #4,288, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯kə].

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 49701, this pair ranks #1,201,540 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lacke vs like

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "Lacke": ac. Private to "like": i.

"Lacke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "like" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lacke ← alcke · laccke · lacek · lackke · lakce · lcake · llacke
  • like ← ilke · liek · likke · lkie · llike

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lacke" and "like" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lacke" is a noun and "like" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Lacke" or "like"?
"like" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,288 in our German list, against #45,413 for "Lacke". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lacke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "like" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,201,540 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lacke" and "like" 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 #1,201,540 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