lientvslinkWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lient is a verb, link is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#27,109
“lient” frequency rank
#12,611
“link” frequency rank
39720
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lient link
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de lier. (Non comparable, utilisé uniquement comme épithète, sans prédicat) Gauche, de gauche.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
lient
4 ch
link

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

lient and link form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lient is recorded at frequency rank #27,109, classified as averb, pronounced \li\. link is at rank #12,611, tagged as anadj, pronounced \lɪŋk\.

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 39720, this pair ranks #245,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

lient#27,109
link#12,611

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lient" and "link" be used interchangeably?
No, "lient" and "link" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering lient vs link

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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