lingesvslivresWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#48,013
“linges” frequency rank
#903
“livres” frequency rank
48916
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature linges livres
Definition Pluriel de linge. Pluriel de livre (ouvrage qu’on lit).

Where the eye mixes linges and livres

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. linges and livres follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
linges
6 ch
livres

Visual trap between linges and livres

A purely visual mix-up. linges (\lɛ̃ʒ\) and livres (\livʁ\) 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 48916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

linges is recorded at frequency rank #48,013, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃ʒ\. livres is at rank #903, tagged as anoun, pronounced \livʁ\.

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 48916, this pair ranks #175,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of linges vs livres

Shared letters: eils. Private to "linges": gn. Private to "livres": rv.

"linges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "livres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linges ← ilnges · linegs · lingess · lingges · lingse · linnges · llinges · lniges
  • livres ← ilvres · lirves · livers · livress · livrres · livrse · livvres · llivres

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "linges" and "livres" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\lɛ̃ʒ\ versus \livʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "linges" vs "livres" - which ranks higher?
"livres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #903 in our French list, against #48,013 for "linges". 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 "linges" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "livres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #175,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "linges" and "livres" 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 #175,023 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