LinievsListeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Linie” and “Liste” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#996
“Linie” frequency rank
#957
“Liste” frequency rank
1953
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Linie Liste
Definition (gedachte) gerade oder gekrümmte Verbindung zwischen zwei Punkten ein schriftliches Verzeichnis, in dem mehrere Punkte in einer bestimmten Reihenfolge aufgeführt sind

Where the eye mixes Linie and Liste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Linie
5 ch
Liste

Visual trap between Linie and Liste

A purely visual mix-up. Linie ([ˈliːni̯ə]) and Liste ([ˈlɪstə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Linie is recorded at frequency rank #996, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈliːni̯ə]. Liste is at rank #957, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪstə].

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 1953, this pair ranks #2,003,403 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Linie vs Liste

Shared letters: eil. Private to "Linie": n. Private to "Liste": st.

"Linie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "Liste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Linieilnie · liine · linei · linnie · llinie · lniie
  • Listeilste · liset · lisste · listte · litse · lliste · lsite

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Linie" and "Liste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈliːni̯ə] versus [ˈlɪstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Linie" or "Liste"?
"Liste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #957 in our German list, against #996 for "Linie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Linie" and "Liste" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Linie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Liste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,003,403 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Linie" and "Liste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liefe vs Linie". 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 #2,003,403 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