likesvslisTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#16,771
“likes” frequency rank
#38,263
“lis” frequency rank
55034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature likes lis
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs like Stieleiche

Letter map: likes vs lis

Shared letters muted; letters that set likes and lis apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
likes
3 ch
lis

Grammar separator: likes vs lis

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: likes is averb and lisanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

likes is recorded at frequency rank #16,771, classified as averb, pronounced […]. lis is at rank #38,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lis].

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 55034, this pair ranks #995,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of likes vs lis

Shared letters: ils. Private to "likes": ek. Private to "lis": -.

"likes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • likesilkes · lieks · likess · likkes · likse · lkies · llikes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "likes" for "lis" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "likes" is a verb and "lis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "likes" or "lis" show up more?
"likes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,771 in our German list, against #38,263 for "lis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "likes" and "lis".

  • Full dictionary entry for "likes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #995,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "likes" and "lis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs lis". 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 #995,278 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