LEMvslemmeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#35,810
“LEM” frequency rank
#22,723
“lemme” frequency rank
58533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature LEM lemme
Definition Originally Lunar Excursion Module, latterly Lunar Module. Let me.

Letter map: LEM vs lemme

Shared letters muted; letters that set LEM and lemme apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

3 ch
LEM
5 ch
lemme

Role in the sentence - LEM and lemme

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: LEM is anoun and lemmeacontraction. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “LEM” sits inside “lemme”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

LEM is recorded at frequency rank #35,810, classified as anoun. 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 58533, this pair ranks #111,915 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of LEM vs lemme

Shared letters: elm. Private to "LEM": -. Private to "lemme": -.

"LEM" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lemme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lemmeelmme · leme · lemem · llemme · lmeme

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "LEM" and "lemme" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "LEM" is a noun and "lemme" a contraction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "LEM" vs "lemme" - which ranks higher?
"lemme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,723 in our English list, against #35,810 for "LEM". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "LEM" and "lemme".

  • Full dictionary entry for "LEM" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lemme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #111,915 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "LEM" and "lemme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "LEM vs LSC". 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

Confusion rank #111,915 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list