limesvslopesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,011
“limes” frequency rank
#26,082
“lopes” frequency rank
74093
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set limes and lopes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
limes
5 ch
lopes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. limes (\li.mɛs\) and lopes (\lɔp\) 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 74093, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

limes is recorded at frequency rank #48,011, classified as anoun, pronounced \li.mɛs\. lopes is at rank #26,082, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɔp\.

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 74093, this pair ranks #38,285 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of limes vs lopes

Shared letters: els. Private to "limes": im. Private to "lopes": op.

"limes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lopes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • limesilmes · liems · limess · limmes · limse · llimes · lmies
  • lopesllopes · loeps · lopess · loppes · lopse · lpoes · olpes

Frequency comparison

limes#48,011
lopes#26,082

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "limes" and "lopes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\li.mɛs\ versus \lɔp\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "limes" or "lopes"?
"lopes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,082 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 limes vs lopes

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 “limes” 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