luesvslumenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lues is a adjective, lumen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lues” is an adjective and “lumen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,789
“lues” frequency rank
#43,534
“lumen” frequency rank
70323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lues lumen
Definition Féminin pluriel de lu. Unité de mesure de flux lumineux du Système international, équivalant à une candela-stéradian, définie comme le flux lumineux de la lumière monochromatique de fréquence de 540 térahertz et de puissance de 1/683 de watt. Le symbole en est lm.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
lues
5 ch
lumen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lues is \ly\ while lumen is \ly.mɛn\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lues is recorded at frequency rank #26,789, classified as anadj, pronounced \ly\. lumen is at rank #43,534, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ly.mɛn\.

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 70323, this pair ranks #51,741 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lues vs lumen

Shared letters: elu. Private to "lues": s. Private to "lumen": mn.

"lues" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "lumen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • luesleus · llues · luess · luse · ules
  • lumenllumen · lmuen · luemn · lumenn · lummen · lumne · ulmen

Frequency comparison

lues#26,789
lumen#43,534

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lues" and "lumen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lues" is an adjective and "lumen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lues" or "lumen"?
"lues" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,789 in our French list, against #43,534 for "lumen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lues vs lumen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “lues”; for a noun, it's “lumen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lues” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list