English homophones
let's/lets
2 "let's, lets" spellings share pronunciation /lɛts/; meaning alone separates them. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Meaning separates the spellings
let's, lets are held together only by pronunciation /lɛts/. With no grammar or frequency gap large enough to tip the choice, read each definition before you commit a spelling.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "let" then splits - "let's" (5 letters) vs "lets" (4).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across let's, lets: elst. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
let's
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory elst · no private letters vs siblings
lets
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory elst · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "let's" when you mean: Used to form the cohortative of verbs, equivalent of the first-person plural imperative in some other languages.
- Write "lets" when you mean: plural of let
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
- lets ← elts · letss · letts · llets · ltes
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (let's, lets). Here's where to go from here.
- "lets" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #2,952 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: Laura · Lara. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "let's, lets" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.