Which to use
“lies” and “lis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,660
- “lies” frequency rank
- #3,147
- “lis” frequency rank
- 27807
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lies | lis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de lie. | Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes. |
Where the eye mixes lies and lis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lies vs lis
A purely visual mix-up. lies (\li\) and lis (\lis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lies is recorded at frequency rank #24,660, classified as anoun, pronounced \li\. lis is at rank #3,147, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lis\.
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 27807, this pair ranks #326,639 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lies vs lis
Shared letters: ils. Private to "lies": e. Private to "lis": -.
"lies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lies ← leis · liess · llies
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lies" for "lis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lies" vs "lis" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #326,639 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lies" and "lis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lies". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #326,639 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.