linevslingesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,263
“line” frequency rank
#48,013
“linges” frequency rank
56276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature line linges
Definition Corde, fil. Pluriel de linge.

Where the eye mixes line and linges

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
line
6 ch
linges

Visual trap between line and linges

A purely visual mix-up. line (\laɪn\) and linges (\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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

line is recorded at frequency rank #8,263, classified as anoun, pronounced \laɪn\. linges is at rank #48,013, 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 56276, this pair ranks #122,106 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of line vs linges

Shared letters: eiln. Private to "line": -. Private to "linges": gs.

"line" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "linges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lineilne · linne · lline · lnie
  • lingesilnges · linegs · lingess · lingges · lingse · linnges · llinges · lniges

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "line" for "linges" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\laɪn\ versus \lɛ̃ʒ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "line" or "linges" show up more?
"line" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,263 in our French list, against #48,013 for "linges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "line" and "linges" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "line" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "linges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #122,106 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "line" and "linges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "limes vs linges". 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 #122,106 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