Which to use
“lieben” and “liken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,163
- “lieben” frequency rank
- #39,513
- “liken” frequency rank
- 40676
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lieben | liken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine innige, gefühlsmäßige Zuneigung für jemanden oder etwas empfinden | etwas nach seinem Geschmack finden, Wohlgefallen an etwas finden; jemanden leiden mögen |
Where the eye mixes lieben and liken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lieben runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against liken's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lieben and liken
A purely visual mix-up. lieben ([ˈliːbn̩]) and liken ([ˈlaɪ̯kn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lieben is recorded at frequency rank #1,163, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈliːbn̩]. liken is at rank #39,513, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯kn̩].
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 40676, this pair ranks #1,501,613 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lieben vs liken
Shared letters: eiln. Private to "lieben": b. Private to "liken": k.
"lieben" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "liken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lieben" for "liken" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "lieben" or "liken" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lieben" and "liken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "liken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,501,613 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lieben" and "liken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lauen vs liken". 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 #1,501,613 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.