LigenvslinConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,937
“Ligen” frequency rank
#15,148
“lin” frequency rank
31085
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ligen lin
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Liga Lein, Leinpflanze, Flachs

Where the eye mixes Ligen and lin

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

5 ch
Ligen
3 ch
lin

Look-alike desk: Ligen vs lin

A purely visual mix-up. Ligen ([ˈliːɡn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ligen is recorded at frequency rank #15,937, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈliːɡn̩]. 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 31085, this pair ranks #1,735,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ligen vs lin

Shared letters: iln. Private to "Ligen": eg. Private to "lin": -.

"Ligen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lin" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ligenilgen · lgien · liegn · ligenn · liggen · ligne · lligen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ligen" for "lin" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈliːɡn̩] versus [lɛ̃]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Ligen" vs "lin" - which ranks higher?
"lin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,148 in our German list, against #15,937 for "Ligen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ligen" 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 #1,735,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ligen" and "lin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lai vs lin". 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 #1,735,100 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