Which to use
“less” is an adverb and “lets” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #305
- “less” frequency rank
- #2,952
- “lets” frequency rank
- 3257
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | less | lets |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | comparative degree of little | plural of let |
Where the eye mixes less and lets
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: less is /lɛs/ while lets is /lɛts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “less” becomes t in “lets”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
less is recorded at frequency rank #305, classified as anadv, pronounced /lɛs/. lets is at rank #2,952, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɛts/.
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 3257, this pair ranks #522,650 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of less vs lets
Shared letters: els. Private to "less": -. Private to "lets": t.
"less" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lets" · 4 letters · shape CVCC