leasesvslesseeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leases is a verb, lessee is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leases” is a verb and “lessee” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,955
“leases” frequency rank
#48,324
“lessee” frequency rank
65279
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leases lessee
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of lease An individual or a corporation who has the right of use of something of value, gained through a lease agreement with the real owner of the property.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leases and lessee apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
leases
6 ch
lessee

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leases is /ˈlisɪz/ while lessee is /lɛˈsiː/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65279, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leases is recorded at frequency rank #16,955, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈlisɪz/. lessee is at rank #48,324, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɛˈsiː/.

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 65279, this pair ranks #73,547 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of leases vs lessee

Shared letters: els. Private to "leases": a. Private to "lessee": -.

"leases" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "lessee" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leaseselases · laeses · leaess · leasess · leasses · lesaes · lleases
  • lesseeelssee · lesee · lesese · lesse · llessee · lsesee

Frequency comparison

leases#16,955
lessee#48,324

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leases" and "lessee" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leases" is a verb and "lessee" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leases" or "lessee"?
"leases" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,955 in our English list, against #48,324 for "lessee". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leases vs lessee

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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