lochvsloisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,033
“loch” frequency rank
#1,296
“lois” frequency rank
37329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loch lois
Definition Plan d’eau, lac, fjord, estuaire, baie ou crique en Écosse ou en Irlande. Pluriel de loi.

Where the eye mixes loch and lois

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
loch
4 ch
lois

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. loch (\lɔk\) and lois (\lwa\) 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 37329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loch is recorded at frequency rank #36,033, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɔk\. lois is at rank #1,296, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lwa\.

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 37329, this pair ranks #263,196 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of loch vs lois

Shared letters: lo. Private to "loch": ch. Private to "lois": is.

"loch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lochlcoh · lloch · locch · lochh · lohc · olch
  • loislios · llois · loiss · losi · olis

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "loch" and "lois" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lɔk\ versus \lwa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "loch" or "lois"?
"lois" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,296 in our French list, against #36,033 for "loch". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list