lignéesvslignesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,466
“lignées” frequency rank
#1,268
“lignes” frequency rank
33734
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lignées lignes
Definition Pluriel de lignée. Pluriel de ligne.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lignées and lignes apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
lignées
6 ch
lignes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lignées (\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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lignées is recorded at frequency rank #32,466, 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 33734, this pair ranks #288,634 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lignées vs lignes

Shared letters: egilns. Private to "lignées": é. Private to "lignes": -.

"lignées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "lignes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

lignées#32,466
lignes#1,268

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lignées" 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, "lignées" or "lignes"?
"lignes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,268 in our French list, against #32,466 for "lignées". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering lignées 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 “lignées” 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