Which to use
“line” and “link” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #306
- “line” frequency rank
- #1,108
- “link” frequency rank
- 1414
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | line | link |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight. | A connection between places, people, events, things, or ideas. |
Where the eye mixes line and link
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. line (/laɪn/) and link (/lɪŋk/) 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 a single letter - e in “line” becomes k in “link”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
line is recorded at frequency rank #306, classified as anoun, pronounced /laɪn/. link is at rank #1,108, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɪŋk/.
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 1414, this pair ranks #527,479 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of line vs link
Shared letters: iln. Private to "line": e. Private to "link": k.
"line" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "link" · 4 letters · shape CVCC