librevsLinkeTell them apart

Quick tell: libre is a adjective, Linke is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“libre” is an adjective and “Linke” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,891
“libre” frequency rank
#1,185
“Linke” frequency rank
37076
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature libre Linke
Definition frei die links gelegene Hand

Where the eye mixes libre and Linke

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

5 ch
libre
5 ch
Linke

Visual trap between libre and Linke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: libre is [libʁ] while Linke is [ˈlɪŋkə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37076, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

libre is recorded at frequency rank #35,891, classified as anadj, pronounced [libʁ]. Linke is at rank #1,185, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪŋkə].

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 37076, this pair ranks #1,599,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of libre vs Linke

Shared letters: eil. Private to "libre": br. Private to "Linke": kn.

"libre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Linke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • libreilbre · lbire · libbre · librre · lirbe · llibre
  • Linkeilnke · likne · linek · linkke · linnke · llinke · lnike

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "libre" for "Linke" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "libre" is an adjective and "Linke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "libre" or "Linke"?
"Linke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,185 in our German list, against #35,891 for "libre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "libre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Linke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,599,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "libre" and "Linke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "libre vs Lübke". 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 #1,599,442 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