LinkevsListeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,185
“Linke” frequency rank
#957
“Liste” frequency rank
2142
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Linke Liste
Definition die links gelegene Hand ein schriftliches Verzeichnis, in dem mehrere Punkte in einer bestimmten Reihenfolge aufgeführt sind

Where the eye mixes Linke and Liste

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

5 ch
Linke
5 ch
Liste

Look-alike desk: Linke vs Liste

A purely visual mix-up. Linke ([ˈlɪŋkə]) 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 2142, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Linke is recorded at frequency rank #1,185, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪŋkə]. 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 2142, this pair ranks #2,003,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Linke vs Liste

Shared letters: eil. Private to "Linke": kn. Private to "Liste": st.

"Linke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Liste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Linkeilnke · likne · linek · linkke · linnke · llinke · lnike
  • Listeilste · liset · lisste · listte · litse · lliste · lsite

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Linke" and "Liste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɪŋkə] versus [ˈlɪstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Linke" or "Liste" show up more?
"Liste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #957 in our German list, against #1,185 for "Linke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Linke" 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 #2,003,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Linke" and "Liste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Linke vs Lübke". 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 #2,003,000 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