leasevslemmeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lease is a noun, lemme is a contraction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lease” is a noun and “lemme” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,432
“lease” frequency rank
#22,723
“lemme” frequency rank
28155
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lease lemme
Definition An interest in land granting exclusive use or occupation of real estate for a limited period; a leasehold. Let me.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
lease
5 ch
lemme

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lease is /liːs/ while lemme is /ˈlɛmi/. 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 (noun vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lease is recorded at frequency rank #5,432, classified as anoun, pronounced /liːs/. lemme is at rank #22,723, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ˈlɛmi/.

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 28155, this pair ranks #373,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lease vs lemme

Shared letters: el. Private to "lease": as. Private to "lemme": m.

"lease" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "lemme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leaseelase · laese · leaes · leasse · lesae · llease
  • lemmeelmme · leme · lemem · llemme · lmeme

Frequency comparison

lease#5,432
lemme#22,723

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lease" and "lemme" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lease" is a noun and "lemme" a contraction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lease" or "lemme"?
"lease" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,432 in our English list, against #22,723 for "lemme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lease vs lemme

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lease”; for a contraction, it's “lemme”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lease” 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