Which to use
“lie” is a noun and “lui” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,855
- “lie” frequency rank
- #68
- “lui” frequency rank
- 7923
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lie | lui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dépôt formé par précipitation dans une boisson, spécialement un liquide fermenté. | Pronom clitique de la troisième personne du singulier épicène du complément d’objet indirect. |
Where the eye mixes lie and lui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lie and lui
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lie is \li\ 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 (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lie is recorded at frequency rank #7,855, classified as anoun, pronounced \li\. 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 7923, this pair ranks #421,687 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lie vs lui
Shared letters: il. Private to "lie": e. Private to "lui": u.
"lie" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "lui" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lie" for "lui" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "lie" or "lui" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lie" 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 #421,687 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lie" and "lui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lie". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #421,687 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.