likesvsliveConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#16,771
“likes” frequency rank
#1,015
“live” frequency rank
17786
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature likes live
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs like direkt ohne Veränderungen und Verzögerungen (an ein Publikum) wiedergebend

Letter map: likes vs live

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

5 ch
likes
4 ch
live

Grammar separator: likes vs live

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: likes is averb and liveanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

likes is recorded at frequency rank #16,771, classified as averb, pronounced […]. live is at rank #1,015, tagged as anadj, pronounced [laɪ̯f].

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 17786, this pair ranks #1,924,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of likes vs live

Shared letters: eil. Private to "likes": ks. Private to "live": v.

"likes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "live" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • likesilkes · lieks · likess · likkes · likse · lkies · llikes
  • liveilve · liev · livve · llive · lvie

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "likes" and "live" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "likes" is a verb and "live" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "likes" vs "live" - which ranks higher?
"live" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,015 in our German list, against #16,771 for "likes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pair "likes" vs "live" 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 "live" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,924,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "likes" and "live" 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 #1,924,288 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