lignéevslignesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lignée” and “lignes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,875
“lignée” frequency rank
#1,268
“lignes” frequency rank
10143
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lignée lignes
Definition Ensemble des humains qui font partie d’une même famille généalogique. Pluriel de ligne.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lignée and lignes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
lignée
6 ch
lignes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lignée (\li.ɲe\) and lignes (\liɲ\) 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 10143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lignée is recorded at frequency rank #8,875, classified as anoun, pronounced \li.ɲe\. lignes is at rank #1,268, tagged as anoun, pronounced \liɲ\.

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 10143, this pair ranks #414,062 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lignée vs lignes

Shared letters: egiln. Private to "lignée": é. Private to "lignes": s.

"lignée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "lignes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lignesilgnes · lgines · ligens · liggnes · ligness · lignnes · lignse · llignes

Frequency comparison

lignée#8,875
lignes#1,268

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lignée" and "lignes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\li.ɲe\ versus \liɲ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lignée" or "lignes"?
"lignes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,268 in our French list, against #8,875 for "lignée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lignée vs lignes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lignée” 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