lapinsvslapsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,185
“lapins” frequency rank
#18,786
“laps” frequency rank
28971
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lapins laps
Definition Pluriel de lapin. Période de temps.

Where the eye mixes lapins and laps

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
lapins
4 ch
laps

Look-alike desk: lapins vs laps

A purely visual mix-up. lapins (\la.pɛ̃\) and laps (\laps\) 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 28971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lapins is recorded at frequency rank #10,185, classified as anoun, pronounced \la.pɛ̃\. laps is at rank #18,786, tagged as anoun, pronounced \laps\.

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 28971, this pair ranks #319,537 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lapins vs laps

Shared letters: alps. Private to "lapins": in. Private to "laps": -.

"lapins" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "laps" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lapinslaipns · lapinns · lapinss · lapisn · lapnis · lappins · llapins
  • lapsalps · lapps · lapss · lasp · llaps · lpas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lapins" and "laps" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\la.pɛ̃\ versus \laps\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lapins" vs "laps" - which ranks higher?
"lapins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,185 in our French list, against #18,786 for "laps". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lapins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "laps" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #319,537 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lapins" and "laps" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laps vs lep". 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 #319,537 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