liefevsLinkeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#46,812
“liefe” frequency rank
#1,185
“Linke” frequency rank
47997
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature liefe Linke
Definition 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs laufen die links gelegene Hand

Where the eye mixes liefe and Linke

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

5 ch
liefe
5 ch
Linke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: liefe is [ˈliːfə] 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

liefe is recorded at frequency rank #46,812, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈliːfə]. 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 47997, this pair ranks #1,264,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of liefe vs Linke

Shared letters: eil. Private to "liefe": f. Private to "Linke": kn.

"liefe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Linke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • liefeilefe · leife · lieef · lieffe · lifee · lliefe
  • Linkeilnke · likne · linek · linkke · linnke · llinke · lnike

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "liefe" and "Linke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "liefe" is a verb and "Linke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "liefe" or "Linke"?
"Linke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,185 in our German list, against #46,812 for "liefe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "liefe" and "Linke". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "liefe" 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 #1,264,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "liefe" and "Linke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liefe vs Lienz". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list