lignéevslineWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,875
“lignée” frequency rank
#8,263
“line” frequency rank
17138
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lignée line
Definition Ensemble des humains qui font partie d’une même famille généalogique. Corde, fil.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
lignée
4 ch
line

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lignée (\li.ɲe\) and line (\laɪn\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17138, 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\. line is at rank #8,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced \laɪn\.

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 17138, this pair ranks #384,618 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lignée vs line

Shared letters: eiln. Private to "lignée": . Private to "line": -.

"lignée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "line" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lineilne · linne · lline · lnie

Frequency comparison

lignée#8,875
line#8,263

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lignée" and "line" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\li.ɲe\ versus \laɪn\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lignée" or "line"?
"line" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,263 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 line

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