limitvslimitesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,467
“limit” frequency rank
#2,285
“limites” frequency rank
34752
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature limit limites
Definition Limite. Pluriel de limite.

Where the eye mixes limit and limites

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
limit
7 ch
limites

Why the eye confuses limit with limites

A purely visual mix-up. limit (\ˈlɪm.ɪt\) and limites (\li.mit\) 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 extra letter(s) - “limit” sits inside “limites”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

limit is recorded at frequency rank #32,467, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈlɪm.ɪt\. limites is at rank #2,285, tagged as anoun, pronounced \li.mit\.

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 34752, this pair ranks #281,645 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of limit vs limites

Shared letters: ilmt. Private to "limit": -. Private to "limites": es.

"limit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "limites" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • limitilmit · liimt · limitt · limmit · limti · llimit · lmiit
  • limitesilmites · liimtes · limiets · limitess · limitse · limittes · limmites · limties

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "limit" and "limites" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ˈlɪm.ɪt\ versus \li.mit\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "limit" or "limites" show up more?
"limites" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,285 in our French list, against #32,467 for "limit". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "limit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "limites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #281,645 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "limit" and "limites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liait vs limit". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #281,645 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list