LändervslindernWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#1,116
“Länder” frequency rank
#18,971
“lindern” frequency rank
20087
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Länder lindern
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Land einen (sehr) unangenehmen Zustand, oft von Schmerzen oder Not, (ein wenig) zum Besseren hin verändern

Where the eye mixes Länder and lindern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Länder
7 ch
lindern

Visual trap between Länder and lindern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Länder is [ˈlɛndɐ] while lindern is [ˈlɪndɐn]. 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 20087, 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]. lindern is at rank #18,971, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɪndɐn].

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 20087, this pair ranks #1,901,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Länder vs lindern

Shared letters: delnr. Private to "Länder": ä. Private to "lindern": i.

"Länder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lindern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lindernilndern · lidnern · linddern · lindernn · linderrn · lindren · linedrn · linndern

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Länder" and "lindern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Länder" is a noun and "lindern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Länder" or "lindern" show up more?
"Länder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,116 in our German list, against #18,971 for "lindern". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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 "lindern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,901,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Länder" and "lindern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lindern 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 #1,901,432 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