Which to use
“lez” is a preposition and “lui” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,063
- “lez” frequency rank
- #68
- “lui” frequency rank
- 21131
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lez | lui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | À côté de, proche de, tout contre. | Pronom clitique de la troisième personne du singulier épicène du complément d’objet indirect. |
Where the eye mixes lez and lui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between lez and lui
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lez is \lɛ\ while lui is \lɥi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lez is recorded at frequency rank #21,063, classified as aprep, pronounced \lɛ\. lui is at rank #68, tagged as apron, pronounced \lɥi\.
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 21131, this pair ranks #364,694 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lez vs lui
Shared letters: l. Private to "lez": ez. Private to "lui": iu.
"lez" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lui" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lez" and "lui" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "lez" or "lui" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lez" and "lui" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #364,694 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lez" and "lui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #364,694 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.