langervslongerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“langer” and “longer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,889
“langer” frequency rank
#34,166
“longer” frequency rank
73055
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature langer longer
Definition Mettre une couche à un bébé. Passer le long de.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set langer and longer apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
langer
6 ch
longer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. langer (\lɑ̃.ʒe\) and longer (\lɔ̃.ʒe\) 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 a single letter - a in “langer” becomes o in “longer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73055, 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\. longer is at rank #34,166, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɔ̃.ʒe\.

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 73055, this pair ranks #41,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of langer vs longer

Shared letters: eglnr. Private to "langer": a. Private to "longer": o.

"langer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "longer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • langeralnger · lagner · lanegr · langerr · langger · langre · lannger · llanger
  • longerllonger · lnoger · logner · lonegr · longerr · longger · longre · lonnger

Frequency comparison

langer#38,889
longer#34,166

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "langer" and "longer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lɑ̃.ʒe\ versus \lɔ̃.ʒe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "langer" or "longer"?
"longer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,166 in our French list, against #38,889 for "langer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering langer vs longer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “langer” 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