Which to use
“lâcher” is a verb and “loches” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,689
- “lâcher” frequency rank
- #47,430
- “loches” frequency rank
- 52119
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lâcher | loches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Détendre, desserrer quelque chose. | Pluriel de loche. |
Where the eye mixes lâcher and loches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lâcher and loches follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lâcher with loches
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lâcher is \lɑ.ʃe\ while loches is \lɔʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lâcher is recorded at frequency rank #4,689, classified as averb, pronounced \lɑ.ʃe\. loches is at rank #47,430, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɔʃ\.
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 52119, this pair ranks #150,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lâcher vs loches
Shared letters: cehl. Private to "lâcher": râ. Private to "loches": os.
"lâcher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "loches" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- loches ← lcohes · lloches · locches · locehs · lochess · lochhes · lochse · lohces
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lâcher" for "loches" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "lâcher" or "loches" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lâcher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #150,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lâcher" and "loches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lichens vs loches". 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 #150,033 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.