languevslargueWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#629
“langue” frequency rank
#39,372
“largue” frequency rank
40001
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature langue largue
Definition Organe musculaire charnu et mobile, situé à l’intérieur de la bouche, et permettant de percevoir le sens du goût et d’articuler certains sons. Qui n’est pas tendu.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
langue
6 ch
largue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: langue is \lɑ̃ɡ\ while largue is \laʁɡ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “langue” becomes r in “largue”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

langue is recorded at frequency rank #629, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɑ̃ɡ\. largue is at rank #39,372, tagged as anadj, pronounced \laʁɡ\.

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 40001, this pair ranks #243,758 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of langue vs largue

Shared letters: aeglu. Private to "langue": n. Private to "largue": r.

"langue" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "largue" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • languealngue · lagnue · langeu · langgue · lanngue · lanuge · llangue · lnague
  • larguealrgue · lagrue · largeu · larggue · larrgue · laruge · llargue · lrague

Frequency comparison

langue#629
largue#39,372

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "langue" and "largue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "langue" is a noun and "largue" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "langue" or "largue"?
"langue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #629 in our French list, against #39,372 for "largue". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering langue vs largue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “langue”; for an adjective, it's “largue”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “langue” 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