Which to use
“loue” is a verb and “lus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,531
- “loue” frequency rank
- #12,613
- “lus” frequency rank
- 23144
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loue | lus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de louer. | Masculin pluriel de lu. |
Where the eye mixes loue and lus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses loue with lus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: loue is \lu\ while lus is \ly\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loue is recorded at frequency rank #10,531, classified as averb, pronounced \lu\. lus is at rank #12,613, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ly\.
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 23144, this pair ranks #354,122 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of loue vs lus
Shared letters: lu. Private to "loue": eo. Private to "lus": s.
"loue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "lus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- loue ← lloue · loeu · luoe · olue
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "loue" and "lus" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "loue" or "lus" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "loue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #354,122 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loue" and "lus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lus". 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 #354,122 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.