lakevsLinkeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,319
“lake” frequency rank
#1,185
“Linke” frequency rank
11504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lake Linke
Definition Stillgewässer, das vollständig von einer Landfläche umgeben ist; See die links gelegene Hand

Where the eye mixes lake and Linke

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

4 ch
lake
5 ch
Linke

Visual trap between lake and Linke

A purely visual mix-up. lake ([leɪk]) and Linke ([ˈlɪŋkə]) 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 11504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lake is recorded at frequency rank #10,319, classified as anoun, pronounced [leɪk]. Linke is at rank #1,185, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪŋkə].

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 11504, this pair ranks #1,969,544 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lake vs Linke

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "lake": a. Private to "Linke": in.

"lake" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Linke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lakealke · laek · lakke · lkae · llake
  • Linkeilnke · likne · linek · linkke · linnke · llinke · lnike

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lake" and "Linke" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([leɪk] versus [ˈlɪŋkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lake" vs "Linke" - which ranks higher?
"Linke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,185 in our German list, against #10,319 for "lake". 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 "lake" and "Linke" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Linke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,969,544 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lake" and "Linke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lake 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 #1,969,544 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