Which to use
“laissent” and “lisent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,934
- “laissent” frequency rank
- #12,187
- “lisent” frequency rank
- 16121
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laissent | lisent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de laisser. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de lire. |
Where the eye mixes laissent and lisent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. laissent runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCC) against lisent's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses laissent with lisent
A purely visual mix-up. laissent (\lɛs\) and lisent (\liz\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laissent is recorded at frequency rank #3,934, classified as averb, pronounced \lɛs\. lisent is at rank #12,187, tagged as averb, pronounced \liz\.
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 16121, this pair ranks #389,290 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laissent vs lisent
Shared letters: eilnst. Private to "laissent": a. Private to "lisent": -.
"laissent" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "lisent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laissent" for "lisent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "laissent" vs "lisent" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "laissent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lisent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,290 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laissent" and "lisent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lisent vs luisant". 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 #389,290 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.