linvsluiWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,148
“lin” frequency rank
#44,056
“lui” frequency rank
59204
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lin lui
Definition Lein, Leinpflanze, Flachs er

Where the eye mixes lin and lui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
lin
3 ch
lui

Look-alike desk: lin vs lui

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lin is [lɛ̃] while lui is [lɥi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lin is recorded at frequency rank #15,148, classified as anoun, pronounced [lɛ̃]. lui is at rank #44,056, tagged as apron, pronounced [lɥi].

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 59204, this pair ranks #833,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lin vs lui

Shared letters: il. Private to "lin": n. Private to "lui": u.

"lin" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lin" and "lui" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lin" is a noun and "lui" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "lin" vs "lui" - which ranks higher?
"lin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,148 in our German list, against #44,056 for "lui". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #833,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lin" and "lui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lori vs lui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #833,360 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