Which to use
“lave” is a noun and “lavez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,996
- “lave” frequency rank
- #31,117
- “lavez” frequency rank
- 37113
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lave | lavez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | , Roche en fusion rejetée par un volcan en éruption. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de laver. |
Where the eye mixes lave and lavez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lave and lavez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lave is \lav\ while lavez is \la.ve\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “lave” sits inside “lavez”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lave is recorded at frequency rank #5,996, classified as anoun, pronounced \lav\. lavez is at rank #31,117, tagged as averb, pronounced \la.ve\.
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 37113, this pair ranks #264,812 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lave vs lavez
Shared letters: aelv. Private to "lave": -. Private to "lavez": z.
"lave" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lavez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lave" for "lavez" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lave" or "lavez"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lavez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #264,812 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lave" and "lavez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lavez vs lirez". 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 #264,812 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.