Which to use
“link” is an adjective and “lire” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,611
- “link” frequency rank
- #491
- “lire” frequency rank
- 13102
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | link | lire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (Non comparable, utilisé uniquement comme épithète, sans prédicat) Gauche, de gauche. | Interpréter des informations écrites sous forme de mots ou de dessins sur un support. |
Where the eye mixes link and lire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses link with lire
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: link is \lɪŋk\ while lire is \liʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
link is recorded at frequency rank #12,611, classified as anadj, pronounced \lɪŋk\. lire is at rank #491, tagged as averb, pronounced \liʁ\.
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 13102, this pair ranks #402,432 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of link vs lire
Shared letters: il. Private to "link": kn. Private to "lire": er.
"link" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "link" and "lire" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "link" or "lire"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "link" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #402,432 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "link" and "lire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "link vs lung". 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 #402,432 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.