les vs let, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“les” is an adjective and “let” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,067
“les” frequency rank: #228
“let” frequency rank: 6295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	les	let
Definition	Clipping of lesbian.	To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without to).

Where the eye mixes les and let

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch

les

3 ch

let

Visual trap between les and let

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: les is /lɛz/ while let is /lɛt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “les” becomes t in “let”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

les is recorded at frequency rank #6,067, classified as anadj, pronounced /lɛz/. let is at rank #228, tagged as averb, pronounced /lɛt/.

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 6295, this pair ranks #511,995 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of les vs let

Shared letters: el. Private to "les": s. Private to "let": t.

"les" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "let" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "les" and "let" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "les" is an adjective and "let" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "les" or "let"?

"let" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #228 in our English list, against #6,067 for "les". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "les" and "let" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "les" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "let" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #511,995 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"les" and "let" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "les vs LSC". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #511,995 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.