lavevslavisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,996
“lave” frequency rank
#41,866
“lavis” frequency rank
47862
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lave lavis
Definition , Roche en fusion rejetée par un volcan en éruption. Technique de dessin utilisant une seule couleur provenant souvent de l’encre de Chine, mais aussi le bistre, la sépia ou quelque autre substance colorante qui sont utilisées à des degrés de dilution divers.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lave and lavis apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lave
5 ch
lavis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lave (\lav\) and lavis (\la.vi\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47862, 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\. lavis is at rank #41,866, tagged as anoun, pronounced \la.vi\.

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 47862, this pair ranks #183,570 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lave vs lavis

Shared letters: alv. Private to "lave": e. Private to "lavis": is.

"lave" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lavis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lavealve · laev · lavve · llave · lvae
  • lavisalvis · laivs · laviss · lavsi · lavvis · llavis · lvais

Frequency comparison

lave#5,996
lavis#41,866

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lave" and "lavis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lav\ versus \la.vi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lave" or "lavis"?
"lave" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,996 in our French list, against #41,866 for "lavis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lave vs lavis

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 “lave” 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