linksvslivesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,149
“links” frequency rank
#19,896
“lives” frequency rank
65045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature links lives
Definition Terrain de golf. Pluriel de live.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set links and lives apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
links
5 ch
lives

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. links (\link\) and lives (\lajv\) 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 65045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

links is recorded at frequency rank #45,149, classified as anoun, pronounced \link\. lives is at rank #19,896, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lajv\.

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 65045, this pair ranks #74,138 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of links vs lives

Shared letters: ils. Private to "links": kn. Private to "lives": ev.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linksilnks · likns · linkks · linkss · linnks · linsk · llinks · lniks
  • livesilves · lievs · livess · livse · livves · llives · lvies

Frequency comparison

links#45,149
lives#19,896

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "links" and "lives" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\link\ versus \lajv\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "links" or "lives"?
"lives" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,896 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 links vs lives

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 “links” 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