langervslingesConfusable pair

Quick tell: langer is a verb, linges is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“langer” is a verb and “linges” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,889
“langer” frequency rank
#48,013
“linges” frequency rank
86902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature langer linges
Definition Mettre une couche à un bébé. Pluriel de linge.

Where the eye mixes langer and linges

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. langer and linges follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
langer
6 ch
linges

Visual trap between langer and linges

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: langer is \lɑ̃.ʒe\ while linges is \lɛ̃ʒ\. 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 86902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

langer is recorded at frequency rank #38,889, classified as averb, pronounced \lɑ̃.ʒe\. linges is at rank #48,013, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃ʒ\.

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 86902, this pair ranks #9,030 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of langer vs linges

Shared letters: egln. Private to "langer": ar. Private to "linges": is.

"langer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "linges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • langer ← alnger · lagner · lanegr · langerr · langger · langre · lannger · llanger
  • linges ← ilnges · linegs · lingess · lingges · lingse · linnges · llinges · lniges

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "langer" for "linges" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "langer" is a verb and "linges" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "langer" or "linges"?
"langer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,889 in our French list, against #48,013 for "linges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "langer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "linges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,030 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "langer" and "linges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "limes vs linges". 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 #9,030 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list