lirezvslivresWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lirez is a verb, livres is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lirez” is a verb and “livres” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,428
“lirez” frequency rank
#903
“livres” frequency rank
48331
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lirez livres
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel du futur de lire. Pluriel de livre (ouvrage qu’on lit).

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
lirez
6 ch
livres

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lirez is \li.ʁe\ while livres is \livʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lirez is recorded at frequency rank #47,428, classified as averb, pronounced \li.ʁe\. 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 48331, this pair ranks #179,769 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lirez vs livres

Shared letters: eilr. Private to "lirez": z. Private to "livres": sv.

"lirez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "livres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lirezilrez · lierz · lirezz · lirrez · lirze · llirez · lriez
  • livresilvres · lirves · livers · livress · livrres · livrse · livvres · llivres

Frequency comparison

lirez#47,428
livres#903

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lirez" and "livres" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lirez" is a verb and "livres" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lirez" or "livres"?
"livres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #903 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 lirez vs livres

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “lirez”; for a noun, it's “livres”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lirez” 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