Which to use
“line” and “lives” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,511
- “line” frequency rank
- #30,669
- “lives” frequency rank
- 36180
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | line | lives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Schnur, Faden: lange, relativ dünne Textilie | Plural des Substantivs life |
Where the eye mixes line and lives
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses line with lives
A purely visual mix-up. line ([laɪn]) and lives ([laɪvz]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36180, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
line is recorded at frequency rank #5,511, classified as anoun, pronounced [laɪn]. lives is at rank #30,669, tagged as anoun, pronounced [laɪvz].
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 36180, this pair ranks #1,622,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of line vs lives
Shared letters: eil. Private to "line": n. Private to "lives": sv.
"line" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "line" for "lives" ever safe?
Frequency check: "line" vs "lives" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "line" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,622,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "line" and "lives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lives vs Loses". 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 #1,622,013 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.