lirevslirezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#491
“lire” frequency rank
#47,428
“lirez” frequency rank
47919
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lire lirez
Definition Interpréter des informations écrites sous forme de mots ou de dessins sur un support. Deuxième personne du pluriel du futur de lire.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
lire
5 ch
lirez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lire (\liʁ\) and lirez (\li.ʁe\) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “lire” sits inside “lirez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47919, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lire is recorded at frequency rank #491, classified as averb, pronounced \liʁ\. lirez is at rank #47,428, tagged as averb, pronounced \li.ʁe\.

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 47919, this pair ranks #183,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lire vs lirez

Shared letters: eilr. Private to "lire": -. Private to "lirez": z.

"lire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lirez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lireilre · lirre · llire · lrie
  • lirezilrez · lierz · lirezz · lirrez · lirze · llirez · lriez

Frequency comparison

lire#491
lirez#47,428

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lire" and "lirez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\liʁ\ versus \li.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lire" or "lirez"?
"lire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #491 in our French list, against #47,428 for "lirez". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering lire vs lirez

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 “lire” 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