linesvslinksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,506
“lines” frequency rank
#45,149
“links” frequency rank
72655
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lines links
Definition Pluriel de line. Terrain de golf.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
lines
5 ch
links

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lines (\laɪnz\) and links (\link\) 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 - e in “lines” becomes k in “links”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lines is recorded at frequency rank #27,506, classified as anoun, pronounced \laɪnz\. links is at rank #45,149, tagged as anoun, pronounced \link\.

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 72655, this pair ranks #43,244 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lines vs links

Shared letters: ilns. Private to "lines": e. Private to "links": k.

"lines" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "links" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linesilnes · liness · linnes · linse · llines · lnies
  • linksilnks · likns · linkks · linkss · linnks · linsk · llinks · lniks

Frequency comparison

lines#27,506
links#45,149

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lines" and "links" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\laɪnz\ versus \link\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lines" or "links"?
"lines" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,506 in our French list, against #45,149 for "links". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lines vs links

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 “lines” 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