loivsLRTell them apart

Quick tell: loi is a noun, LR is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“loi” is a noun and “LR” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#300
“loi” frequency rank
#6,844
“LR” frequency rank
7144
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loi LR
Definition Règle, obligations écrites, prescrites ou tacites, auxquelles les personnes se doivent de se conformer. Les Républicains; parti politique français de droite.

Where the eye mixes loi and LR

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
loi
2 ch
LR

Look-alike desk: loi vs LR

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: loi is \lwa\ while LR is \ɛl.ɛʁ\. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loi is recorded at frequency rank #300, classified as anoun, pronounced \lwa\. LR is at rank #6,844, tagged as aname, pronounced \ɛl.ɛʁ\.

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 7144, this pair ranks #424,084 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of loi vs LR

Shared letters: l. Private to "loi": io. Private to "LR": r.

"loi" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "LR" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "loi" and "LR" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "loi" is a noun and "LR" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "loi" vs "LR" - which ranks higher?
"loi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #300 in our French list, against #6,844 for "LR". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "loi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "LR" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #424,084 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "loi" and "LR" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs LR". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #424,084 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list