Which to use
“late” is an adjective and “le” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,348
- “late” frequency rank
- #1,852
- “le” frequency rank
- 16200
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | late | le |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | spät | der, die, das |
Letter map: late vs le
Shared letters muted; letters that set late and le apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: late is anadjective and leadeterminer. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16200, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
late is recorded at frequency rank #14,348, classified as anadj, pronounced […]. le is at rank #1,852, tagged as adet, pronounced [lə].
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 16200, this pair ranks #1,937,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of late vs le
Shared letters: el. Private to "late": at. Private to "le": -.
"late" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "le" · 2 letters · shape CV
Known mistypes of this pair
- late ← laet · llate · ltae
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "late" and "le" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "late" or "le"?
What to do next
You've compared "late" and "le". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "late" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "le" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,937,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "late" and "le" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "late vs puzzles". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.