Français homophones

lai/laid/laids/lais/lait/laits/legs/lez

"lai" is an adjective; "lais" is a noun - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #3 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "lai" arrives as an adjective, while "lais" is a noun. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "lai" then splits - "lai" (3 letters) vs "laid" (4).
Shared stem "lai" then splits - "lai" (3 letters) vs "laids" (5).
Shared stem "lai" then splits - "lai" (3 letters) vs "lais" (4).
Shared stem "lai" then splits - "lai" (3 letters) vs "lait" (4).
Shared stem "lai" then splits - "lai" (3 letters) vs "laits" (5).
No shared spelling stem: "lai" is 3 letters, "legs" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "lai" is 3 letters, "lez" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "laid" then splits - "laid" (4 letters) vs "laids" (5).
Single-letter fork: "laid" keeps d, "lais" writes s at letter 4.
Single-letter fork: "laid" keeps d, "lait" writes t at letter 4.
Shared stem "lai" then splits - "laid" (4 letters) vs "laits" (5).
No shared spelling stem: "laid" is 4 letters, "legs" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "laid" is 4 letters, "lez" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "lai" then splits - "laids" (5 letters) vs "lais" (4).
Shared stem "lai" then splits - "laids" (5 letters) vs "lait" (4).
Shared stem "lai" then splits - "laids" (5 letters) vs "laits" (5).
No shared spelling stem: "laids" is 5 letters, "legs" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "laids" is 5 letters, "lez" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Single-letter fork: "lais" keeps s, "lait" writes t at letter 4.
Shared stem "lai" then splits - "lais" (4 letters) vs "laits" (5).
No shared spelling stem: "lais" is 4 letters, "legs" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "lais" is 4 letters, "lez" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "lait" then splits - "lait" (4 letters) vs "laits" (5).
No shared spelling stem: "lait" is 4 letters, "legs" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "lait" is 4 letters, "lez" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "laits" is 5 letters, "legs" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "laits" is 5 letters, "lez" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "le" then splits - "legs" (4 letters) vs "lez" (3).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across lai, laid, laids, lais, lait, laits, legs, lez: l. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

lai
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVV
Inventory ail · private ai
laid
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory adil · private adi
laids
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory adils · private adis
lais
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory ails · private ais
lait
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory ailt · private ait
laits
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory ailst · private aist
legs
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory egls · private egs
lez
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory elz · private ez

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "lai" when you mean: Laïc, convers.
Write "laid" when you mean: Qui a quelque défaut qui se remarque dans les proportions, dans les formes ou dans les couleurs qui constituent la beauté chez les hommes…
Write "laids" when you mean: Masculin pluriel de laid.
Write "lais" when you mean: Jeune baliveau de l’âge du bois, qu’on laisse quand on coupe le taillis, afin qu’il vienne en haute futaie.
Write "lait" when you mean: Liquide produit par les glandes mammaires des femelles de mammifères pendant la période de lactation qui suit la parturition, et destiné …
Write "laits" when you mean: Pluriel de lait.
Write "legs" when you mean: Don fait par testament ou par autre acte de dernière volonté.
Write "lez" when you mean: À côté de, proche de, tout contre.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

laid ← alid · ladi · laidd · liad · llaid
laids ← alids · ladis · laidds · laidss · laisd · liads
lais ← alis · laiss · lasi · llais
lait ← alit · laitt · lati · liat · llait
laits ← alits · laist · laitss · laitts · latis · liats
legs ← elgs · leggs · legss · lesg · lges · llegs

Each spelling

lai

adjective · /\lɛ\/ · #19,335 frequency

Laïc, convers.

laid

adjective · /\lɛ\/ · #12,805 frequency

Qui a quelque défaut qui se remarque dans les proportions, dans les formes ou dans les couleurs qui constituent la beauté chez les hommes et chez les animaux.

laids

adjective · /\lɛ\/ · #36,465 frequency

Masculin pluriel de laid.

lais

noun · /\lɛ\/ · #41,862 frequency

Jeune baliveau de l’âge du bois, qu’on laisse quand on coupe le taillis, afin qu’il vienne en haute futaie.

lait

noun · /\lɛ\/ · #2,043 frequency

Liquide produit par les glandes mammaires des femelles de mammifères pendant la période de lactation qui suit la parturition, et destiné à nourrir les bébés lors de l’allaitement.

laits

noun · /\lɛ\/ · #36,466 frequency

Pluriel de lait.

legs

noun · /\lɛ\/ · #16,929 frequency

Don fait par testament ou par autre acte de dernière volonté.

lez

preposition · /\lɛ\/ · #21,063 frequency

À côté de, proche de, tout contre.