langenvsLinienWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,204
“langen” frequency rank
#3,467
“Linien” frequency rank
4671
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature langen Linien
Definition sich einem Gegenstand entgegen strecken, um ihn zu ergreifen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Linie

Where the eye mixes langen and Linien

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

6 ch
langen
6 ch
Linien

Visual trap between langen and Linien

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: langen is [ˈlaŋən] while Linien is [ˈliːni̯ən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

langen is recorded at frequency rank #1,204, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaŋən]. Linien is at rank #3,467, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈliːni̯ən].

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 4671, this pair ranks #1,997,053 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of langen vs Linien

Shared letters: eln. Private to "langen": ag. Private to "Linien": i.

"langen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Linien" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • langenalngen · lagnen · lanegn · langenn · langgen · langne · lanngen · llangen
  • Linienilnien · liinen · linein · linienn · linine · linnien · llinien · lniien

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "langen" and "Linien" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "langen" is a verb and "Linien" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "langen" vs "Linien" - which ranks higher?
"langen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,204 in our German list, against #3,467 for "Linien". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "langen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Linien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,997,053 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "langen" and "Linien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lenzen vs Linien". 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 #1,997,053 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