libresvslistésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: libres is a adjective, listés is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“libres” is an adjective and “listés” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,933
“libres” frequency rank
#37,895
“listés” frequency rank
40828
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature libres listés
Definition Pluriel de libre. Participe passé masculin pluriel de lister.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
libres
6 ch
listés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: libres is \libʁ\ while listés is \lis.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40828, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

libres is recorded at frequency rank #2,933, classified as anadj, pronounced \libʁ\. listés is at rank #37,895, tagged as averb, pronounced \lis.te\.

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 40828, this pair ranks #237,577 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of libres vs listés

Shared letters: ils. Private to "libres": ber. Private to "listés": .

"libres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "listés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • libresilbres · lbires · libbres · libers · libress · librres · librse · lirbes

Frequency comparison

libres#2,933
listés#37,895

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "libres" and "listés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "libres" is an adjective and "listés" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "libres" or "listés"?
"libres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,933 in our French list, against #37,895 for "listés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering libres vs listés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “libres”; for a verb, it's “listés”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “libres” 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