lèvresvslivresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,934
“lèvres” frequency rank
#903
“livres” frequency rank
3837
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lèvres livres
Definition Pluriel de lèvre. Pluriel de livre (ouvrage qu’on lit).

Where the eye mixes lèvres and livres

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
lèvres
6 ch
livres

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lèvres (\lɛvʁ\) and livres (\livʁ\) 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 - è in “lèvres” becomes i in “livres”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3837, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lèvres is recorded at frequency rank #2,934, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛvʁ\. livres is at rank #903, tagged as anoun, pronounced \livʁ\.

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 3837, this pair ranks #433,101 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lèvres vs livres

Shared letters: elrsv. Private to "lèvres": è. Private to "livres": i.

"lèvres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "livres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • livresilvres · lirves · livers · livress · livrres · livrse · livvres · llivres

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lèvres" and "livres" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lɛvʁ\ versus \livʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lèvres" or "livres"?
"livres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #903 in our French list, against #2,934 for "lèvres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "lèvres" and "livres". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lèvres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "livres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #433,101 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lèvres" and "livres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Legros vs lèvres". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list