Which to use
“lai” is an adjective and “liait” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,335
- “lai” frequency rank
- #48,641
- “liait” frequency rank
- 67976
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lai | liait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Laïc, convers. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de lier. |
Where the eye mixes lai and liait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lai and liait
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lai is \lɛ\ while liait is \ljɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lai is recorded at frequency rank #19,335, classified as anadj, pronounced \lɛ\. liait is at rank #48,641, tagged as averb, pronounced \ljɛ\.
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 67976, this pair ranks #61,143 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lai vs liait
Shared letters: ail. Private to "lai": -. Private to "liait": t.
"lai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "liait" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- liait ← ilait · laiit · liaitt · liati · liiat · lliait
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lai" and "liait" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lai" or "liait"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "liait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,143 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lai" and "liait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lavait vs liait". 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 #61,143 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.