likesvslimesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,719
“likes” frequency rank
#48,011
“limes” frequency rank
73730
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature likes limes
Definition Pluriel de like. Système de fortifications établi au long de certaines des frontières de l’Empire romain.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
likes
5 ch
limes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. likes (\lajk\) and limes (\li.mɛs\) 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 a single letter - k in “likes” becomes m in “limes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

likes is recorded at frequency rank #25,719, classified as anoun, pronounced \lajk\. limes is at rank #48,011, tagged as anoun, pronounced \li.mɛs\.

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 73730, this pair ranks #39,484 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of likes vs limes

Shared letters: eils. Private to "likes": k. Private to "limes": m.

"likes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "limes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • likesilkes · lieks · likess · likkes · likse · lkies · llikes
  • limesilmes · liems · limess · limmes · limse · llimes · lmies

Frequency comparison

likes#25,719
limes#48,011

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "likes" and "limes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lajk\ versus \li.mɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "likes" or "limes"?
"likes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,719 in our French list, against #48,011 for "limes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering likes vs limes

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 “likes” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list