LiftvslinConfusable pair

Which to use

“Lift” and “lin” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,615
“Lift” frequency rank
#15,148
“lin” frequency rank
33763
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lift lin
Definition in oder an einem Gebäude befindliche mechanische Vorrichtung, mit der Personen oder Lasten hinauf- beziehungsweise hinabbefördert werden Lein, Leinpflanze, Flachs

Where the eye mixes Lift and lin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Lift
3 ch
lin

Why the eye confuses Lift with lin

A purely visual mix-up. Lift ([lɪft]) and lin ([lɛ̃]) 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 33763, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lift is recorded at frequency rank #18,615, classified as anoun, pronounced [lɪft]. lin is at rank #15,148, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɛ̃].

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 33763, this pair ranks #1,678,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lift vs lin

Shared letters: il. Private to "Lift": ft. Private to "lin": n.

"Lift" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lin" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Liftilft · lfit · lifft · liftt · litf · llift

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Lift" for "lin" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([lɪft] versus [lɛ̃]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Lift" or "lin" show up more?
"lin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,148 in our German list, against #18,615 for "Lift". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lift" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,678,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lift" and "lin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liefe vs Lift". 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 #1,678,632 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