linesvslinkesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lines is a noun, linkes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#21,343
“lines” frequency rank
#19,293
“linkes” frequency rank
40636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lines linkes
Definition Plural des Substantivs line Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs link

Where the eye mixes lines and linkes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
lines
6 ch
linkes

Look-alike desk: lines vs linkes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lines is [laɪnz] while linkes is [ˈlɪŋkəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lines is recorded at frequency rank #21,343, classified as anoun, pronounced [laɪnz]. linkes is at rank #19,293, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɪŋkəs].

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 40636, this pair ranks #1,502,733 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lines vs linkes

Shared letters: eilns. Private to "lines": -. Private to "linkes": k.

"lines" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "linkes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linesilnes · liens · liness · linnes · llines · lnies
  • linkesilnkes · liknes · lineks · linkess · linkkes · linkse · linnkes · llinkes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lines" for "linkes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lines" is a noun and "linkes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "lines" or "linkes" show up more?
"linkes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,293 in our German list, against #21,343 for "lines". 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 "lines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "linkes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,502,733 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lines" and "linkes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lines 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 #1,502,733 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