likesvslinkesTell them apart

Quick tell: likes is a verb, linkes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“likes” is a verb and “linkes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,771
“likes” frequency rank
#19,293
“linkes” frequency rank
36064
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature likes linkes
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs like Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs link

Letter map: likes vs linkes

Shared letters muted; letters that set likes and linkes apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

5 ch
likes
6 ch
linkes

Role in the sentence - likes and linkes

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: likes is averb and linkesanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36064, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

likes is recorded at frequency rank #16,771, classified as averb, pronounced […]. linkes is at rank #19,293, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɪŋkəs].

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 36064, this pair ranks #1,624,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of likes vs linkes

Shared letters: eikls. Private to "likes": -. Private to "linkes": n.

"likes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "linkes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • likesilkes · lieks · likess · likkes · likse · lkies · llikes
  • linkesilnkes · liknes · lineks · linkess · linkkes · linkse · linnkes · llinkes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "likes" for "linkes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "likes" is a verb and "linkes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "likes" vs "linkes" - which ranks higher?
"likes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,771 in our German list, against #19,293 for "linkes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "likes" vs "linkes" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "likes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "linkes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,624,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "likes" and "linkes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "likes vs puzzles". 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 #1,624,857 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