Which to use
“lies” and “lois” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,660
- “lies” frequency rank
- #1,296
- “lois” frequency rank
- 25956
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lies | lois |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de lie. | Pluriel de loi. |
Where the eye mixes lies and lois
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lies and lois
A purely visual mix-up. lies (\li\) and lois (\lwa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25956, 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\. lois is at rank #1,296, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lwa\.
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 25956, this pair ranks #337,904 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lies vs lois
Shared letters: ils. Private to "lies": e. Private to "lois": o.
"lies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lies" for "lois" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lies" vs "lois" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lois" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,904 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lies" and "lois" 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 #337,904 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.