licencesvslicencierWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: licences is a noun, licencier is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“licences” is a noun and “licencier” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,247
“licences” frequency rank
#23,596
“licencier” frequency rank
34843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature licences licencier
Definition Pluriel de licence. Congédier un employé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set licences and licencier apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
licences
9 ch
licencier

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: licences is \li.sɑ̃s\ while licencier is \li.sɑ̃.sje\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

licences is recorded at frequency rank #11,247, classified as anoun, pronounced \li.sɑ̃s\. licencier is at rank #23,596, tagged as averb, pronounced \li.sɑ̃.sje\.

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 34843, this pair ranks #280,955 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of licences vs licencier

Shared letters: ceiln. Private to "licences": s. Private to "licencier": r.

"licences" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "licencier" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • licencesilcences · lciences · liccences · licecnes · licencces · licencess · licencse · licenecs
  • licencierilcencier · lciencier · liccencier · licecnier · licenccier · licenceir · licencierr · licencire

Frequency comparison

licences#11,247
licencier#23,596

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "licences" and "licencier" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "licences" is a noun and "licencier" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "licences" or "licencier"?
"licences" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,247 in our French list, against #23,596 for "licencier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering licences vs licencier

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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