Which to use
“la” is an article and “lys” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2
- “la” frequency rank
- #14,079
- “lys” frequency rank
- 14081
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | la | lys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de le. Détermine un groupe nominal féminin singulier. | Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes. |
Where the eye mixes la and lys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: la vs lys
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: la is \la\ while lys is \lis\. 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 (article vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
la is recorded at frequency rank #2, classified as anarticle, pronounced \la\. lys is at rank #14,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lis\.
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 14081, this pair ranks #398,282 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of la vs lys
Shared letters: l. Private to "la": a. Private to "lys": sy.
"la" · 2 letters · shape CV · "lys" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "la" for "lys" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "la" or "lys" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "la" and "lys" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "la" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,282 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "la" and "lys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lys". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #398,282 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.