leer
[leˈeɾ]
The verdict
“leer” is in the everyday core of Spanish, ranked #610 in Spanish word frequency and used as a verb.
- #610
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Interpretar lo impreso o lo escrito por el conocimiento de los signos.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | leer |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [leˈeɾ] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #610 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “leer” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for leer is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [leˈeɾ]. Corpus data places it at rank #610 in overall Spanish word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for leer, with forms such as "eler", "leerr", and "ler". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "les", "ley", "lei", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct Spanish form is leer, spelled L-E-E-R.
Definition
- 1Interpretar lo impreso o lo escrito por el conocimiento de los signos.
- 2Interpretar y comprender algo que está oculto.
- 3Exponer y enseñar una materia, en un establecimiento de enseñanza superior.
- 4En ambientes universitarios y científicos, exponer y defender argumentadamente una idea o tesis.
- 5Recuperar la información del disco duro, de una memoria o de otro soporte electrónico.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eler,leerr,ler,lere,lleer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of leer - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "leer"?
What does "leer" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "leer"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “leer”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is L-E-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [leˈeɾ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “les” - see the side-by-side comparison. leer vs les
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.