Which to use
“lisais” and “lisons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,930
- “lisais” frequency rank
- #36,934
- “lisons” frequency rank
- 52864
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lisais | lisons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de lire. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de lire. |
Where the eye mixes lisais and lisons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lisais (CVCVVC) and lisons (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between lisais and lisons
A purely visual mix-up. lisais (\li.zɛ\) and lisons (\li.zɔ̃\) 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 52864, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lisais is recorded at frequency rank #15,930, classified as averb, pronounced \li.zɛ\. lisons is at rank #36,934, tagged as averb, pronounced \li.zɔ̃\.
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 52864, this pair ranks #144,730 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lisais vs lisons
Shared letters: ils. Private to "lisais": a. Private to "lisons": no.
"lisais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "lisons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lisais" for "lisons" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lisais" vs "lisons" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lisais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lisons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #144,730 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lisais" and "lisons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lisons vs Lyons". 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 #144,730 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.