lignéevslingeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,875
“lignée” frequency rank
#6,842
“linge” frequency rank
15717
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lignée linge
Definition Ensemble des humains qui font partie d’une même famille généalogique. Tissu de fil ou de coton servant à l’usage du corps ou à des emplois domestiques.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
lignée
5 ch
linge

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lignée (\li.ɲe\) and linge (\lɛ̃ʒ\) 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 15717, 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\. linge is at rank #6,842, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃ʒ\.

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 15717, this pair ranks #391,128 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lignée vs linge

Shared letters: egiln. Private to "lignée": é. Private to "linge": -.

"lignée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "linge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lingeilnge · lineg · lingge · linnge · llinge · lnige

Frequency comparison

lignée#8,875
linge#6,842

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lignée" and "linge" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\li.ɲe\ versus \lɛ̃ʒ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lignée" or "linge"?
"linge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,842 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 linge

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