liensvslisonsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,598
“liens” frequency rank
#36,934
“lisons” frequency rank
38532
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature liens lisons
Definition Pluriel de lien. Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de lire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set liens and lisons apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
liens
6 ch
lisons

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: liens is \ljɛ̃\ while lisons is \li.zɔ̃\. 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 38532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

liens is recorded at frequency rank #1,598, classified as anoun, pronounced \ljɛ̃\. lisons is at rank #36,934, tagged as averb, pronounced \li.zɔ̃\.

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 38532, this pair ranks #254,628 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of liens vs lisons

Shared letters: ilns. Private to "liens": e. Private to "lisons": o.

"liens" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "lisons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • liensilens · leins · lienns · lienss · liesn · lliens
  • lisonsilsons · liosns · lisnos · lisonns · lisonss · lisosn · lissons · llisons

Frequency comparison

liens#1,598
lisons#36,934

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "liens" and "lisons" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "liens" is a noun and "lisons" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "liens" or "lisons"?
"liens" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,598 in our French list, against #36,934 for "lisons". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering liens vs lisons

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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