LemkevslenkteTell them apart

Quick tell: Lemke is a name, lenkte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Lemke” is a name and “lenkte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,888
“Lemke” frequency rank
#23,217
“lenkte” frequency rank
59105
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lemke lenkte
Definition deutschsprachiger Nachname, Familienname 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lenken

Letter map: Lemke vs lenkte

Shared letters muted; letters that set Lemke and lenkte apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
Lemke
6 ch
lenkte

Grammar separator: Lemke vs lenkte

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Lemke is aname and lenkteaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lemke is recorded at frequency rank #35,888, classified as aname, pronounced […]. lenkte is at rank #23,217, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛŋktə].

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 59105, this pair ranks #837,142 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lemke vs lenkte

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "Lemke": m. Private to "lenkte": nt.

"Lemke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lenkte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lemkeelmke · lekme · lemek · lemkke · lemmke · llemke · lmeke
  • lenkteelnkte · leknte · lenket · lenkkte · lenktte · lennkte · lentke · llenkte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lemke" and "lenkte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lemke" is a name and "lenkte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Lemke" vs "lenkte" - which ranks higher?
"lenkte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,217 in our German list, against #35,888 for "Lemke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "Lemke" vs "lenkte" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lemke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lenkte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #837,142 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lemke" and "lenkte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lemke vs puzzles". 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 #837,142 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