lenzenvsLinsenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#49,051
“lenzen” frequency rank
#15,424
“Linsen” frequency rank
64475
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lenzen Linsen
Definition Wasser aus einem Boots- oder Schiffskörper entfernen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Linse

Where the eye mixes lenzen and Linsen

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

6 ch
lenzen
6 ch
Linsen

Visual trap between lenzen and Linsen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lenzen is [ˈlɛnt͡sn̩] while Linsen is [ˈlɪnzn̩]. 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 64475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lenzen is recorded at frequency rank #49,051, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛnt͡sn̩]. Linsen is at rank #15,424, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪnzn̩].

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 64475, this pair ranks #640,237 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lenzen vs Linsen

Shared letters: eln. Private to "lenzen": z. Private to "Linsen": is.

"lenzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Linsen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lenzenelnzen · lenezn · lennzen · lenzenn · lenzne · lenzzen · leznen · llenzen
  • Linsenilnsen · linesn · linnsen · linsenn · linsne · linssen · lisnen · llinsen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lenzen" for "Linsen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lenzen" is a verb and "Linsen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "lenzen" or "Linsen" show up more?
"Linsen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,424 in our German list, against #49,051 for "lenzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "lenzen" and "Linsen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lenzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Linsen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #640,237 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lenzen" and "Linsen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lenzen vs letten". 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 #640,237 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