louésvslourdWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: loués is a verb, lourd is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“loués” is a verb and “lourd” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,662
“loués” frequency rank
#2,681
“lourd” frequency rank
27343
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loués lourd
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de louer. Pesant, dont le poids est élevé.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
loués
5 ch
lourd

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: loués is \lwe\ while lourd is \luʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loués is recorded at frequency rank #24,662, classified as averb, pronounced \lwe\. lourd is at rank #2,681, tagged as anadj, pronounced \luʁ\.

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 27343, this pair ranks #329,604 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of loués vs lourd

Shared letters: lou. Private to "loués": . Private to "lourd": dr.

"loués" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "lourd" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lourdllourd · lorud · loudr · lourdd · lourrd · luord · olurd

Frequency comparison

loués#24,662
lourd#2,681

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "loués" and "lourd" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "loués" is a verb and "lourd" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "loués" or "lourd"?
"lourd" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,681 in our French list, against #24,662 for "loués". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering loués vs lourd

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “loués”; for an adjective, it's “lourd”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “loués” 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