limavslinTell them apart

Quick tell: lima is a adjective, lin is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lima” is an adjective and “lin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,418
“lima” frequency rank
#15,148
“lin” frequency rank
37566
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lima lin
Definition grenzwertig Lein, Leinpflanze, Flachs

Letter map: lima vs lin

Shared letters muted; letters that set lima and lin apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
lima
3 ch
lin

Grammar separator: lima vs lin

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lima is anadjective and linanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lima is recorded at frequency rank #22,418, classified as anadj. 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 37566, this pair ranks #1,586,853 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lima vs lin

Shared letters: il. Private to "lima": am. Private to "lin": n.

"lima" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lin" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • limailma · liam · limma · llima · lmia

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lima" for "lin" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lima" is an adjective and "lin" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "lima" 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 #22,418 for "lima". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "lima" vs "lin" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lima" 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 #1,586,853 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lima" and "lin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lima". 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 #1,586,853 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