LichtevsLichtsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Lichte is a name, Lichts is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Lichte” is a name and “Lichts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,319
“Lichte” frequency rank
#16,770
“Lichts” frequency rank
35089
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lichte Lichts
Definition deutschsprachiger Familienname, Nachname Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Licht

Where the eye mixes Lichte and Lichts

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

6 ch
Lichte
6 ch
Lichts

Why the eye confuses Lichte with Lichts

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lichte is [ˈlɪçtə] while Lichts is [lɪçt͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “Lichte” becomes s in “Lichts”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lichte is recorded at frequency rank #18,319, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈlɪçtə]. Lichts is at rank #16,770, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɪçt͡s].

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 35089, this pair ranks #1,648,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lichte vs Lichts

Shared letters: chilt. Private to "Lichte": e. Private to "Lichts": s.

"Lichte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "Lichts" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lichteilchte · lcihte · licchte · lichet · lichhte · lichtte · licthe · lihcte
  • Lichtsilchts · lcihts · licchts · lichhts · lichst · lichtss · lichtts · licths

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Lichte" for "Lichts" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lichte" is a name and "Lichts" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Lichte" vs "Lichts" - which ranks higher?
"Lichts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,770 in our German list, against #18,319 for "Lichte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lichte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lichts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,648,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lichte" and "Lichts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lächle vs Lichte". 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 #1,648,356 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