loisvsloosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,296
“lois” frequency rank
#46,271
“loos” frequency rank
47567
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lois loos
Definition Pluriel de loi. Pluriel de loo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lois and loos apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lois
4 ch
loos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lois (\lwa\) and loos (\luz\) 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 a single letter - i in “lois” becomes o in “loos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lois is recorded at frequency rank #1,296, classified as anoun, pronounced \lwa\. loos is at rank #46,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced \luz\.

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 47567, this pair ranks #185,938 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lois vs loos

Shared letters: los. Private to "lois": i. Private to "loos": -.

"lois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "loos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • loislios · llois · loiss · losi · olis
  • looslloos · looss · loso · olos

Frequency comparison

lois#1,296
loos#46,271

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lois" and "loos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lwa\ versus \luz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lois" or "loos"?
"lois" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,296 in our French list, against #46,271 for "loos". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering lois vs loos

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 “lois” 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