lunevslungWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,045
“lune” frequency rank
#46,871
“lung” frequency rank
48916
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lune lung
Definition Satellite naturel de la Terre, qui tourne autour de celle-ci en un cycle de vingt-sept jours sept heures quarante-trois minutes. Le satellite réfléchit sur la Terre la lumière qu’il reçoit du Soleil. Lune s’écrit avec une majuscule en astronomie lorsqu'on s'en sert comme nom propre de cet astre, pour le distinguer des autres satellites naturels. Poumon.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
lune
4 ch
lung

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lune (\lyn\) and lung (\lʌŋ\) 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 - e in “lune” becomes g in “lung”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lune is recorded at frequency rank #2,045, classified as anoun, pronounced \lyn\. lung is at rank #46,871, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lʌŋ\.

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 48916, this pair ranks #175,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lune vs lung

Shared letters: lnu. Private to "lune": e. Private to "lung": g.

"lune" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lunellune · lnue · luen · lunne · ulne
  • lungllung · lnug · lugn · lungg · lunng · ulng

Frequency comparison

lune#2,045
lung#46,871

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lune" and "lung" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lyn\ versus \lʌŋ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lune" or "lung"?
"lune" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,045 in our French list, against #46,871 for "lung". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering lune vs lung

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 “lune” 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