laisvsluesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lais is a noun, lues is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lais” is a noun and “lues” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,862
“lais” frequency rank
#26,789
“lues” frequency rank
68651
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lais lues
Definition Jeune baliveau de l’âge du bois, qu’on laisse quand on coupe le taillis, afin qu’il vienne en haute futaie. Féminin pluriel de lu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lais and lues apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lais
4 ch
lues

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lais is \lɛ\ while lues is \ly\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lais is recorded at frequency rank #41,862, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛ\. lues is at rank #26,789, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ly\.

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 68651, this pair ranks #58,278 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lais vs lues

Shared letters: ls. Private to "lais": ai. Private to "lues": eu.

"lais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "lues" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laisalis · laiss · lasi · llais
  • luesleus · llues · luess · luse · ules

Frequency comparison

lais#41,862
lues#26,789

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lais" and "lues" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lais" is a noun and "lues" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lais" or "lues"?
"lues" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,789 in our French list, against #41,862 for "lais". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lais vs lues

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lais”; for an adjective, it's “lues”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lais” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list