LändervsLandesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,116
“Länder” frequency rank
#1,113
“Landes” frequency rank
2229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Länder Landes
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Land Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Land

Where the eye mixes Länder and Landes

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

6 ch
Länder
6 ch
Landes

Look-alike desk: Länder vs Landes

A purely visual mix-up. Länder ([ˈlɛndɐ]) and Landes ([ˈlandəs]) 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 2229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Länder is recorded at frequency rank #1,116, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛndɐ]. Landes is at rank #1,113, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlandəs].

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 2229, this pair ranks #2,002,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Länder vs Landes

Shared letters: deln. Private to "Länder": . Private to "Landes": as.

"Länder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Landes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Landesalndes · ladnes · landdes · landess · landse · laneds · lanndes · llandes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Länder" and "Landes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɛndɐ] versus [ˈlandəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Länder" or "Landes"?
"Landes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,113 in our German list, against #1,116 for "Länder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Länder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Landes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Länder" and "Landes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Länder vs lindert". 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 #2,002,815 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