LändervsLandsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,116
“Länder” frequency rank
#44,039
“Lands” frequency rank
45155
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes Länder and Lands

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Länder
5 ch
Lands

Look-alike desk: Länder vs Lands

A purely visual mix-up. Länder ([ˈlɛndɐ]) and Lands ([lant͡s]) 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 45155, 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]. Lands is at rank #44,039, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lant͡s].

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 45155, this pair ranks #1,362,620 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Länder vs Lands

Shared letters: dln. Private to "Länder": erä. Private to "Lands": as.

"Länder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Lands" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Landsalnds · ladns · landds · landss · lannds · lansd · llands · lnads

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Länder" for "Lands" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɛndɐ] versus [lant͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Länder" or "Lands"?
"Länder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,116 in our German list, against #44,039 for "Lands". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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 "Lands" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,362,620 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Länder" and "Lands" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lädst vs Lands". 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 #1,362,620 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