Which to use
“la” is an article and “les” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2
- “la” frequency rank
- #101
- “les” frequency rank
- 103
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | la | les |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Artículo determinado femenino singular. | Forma del dativo de ellos. Dativo del pronombre personal de tercera persona en género masculino o femenino y número plural. No admite preposición y se puede usar como sufijo: LES di; daLES. Es grave incorrección emplear en este caso para el género masculino la forma los, propia del acusativo, y en femenino tampoco debe emplearse la forma las, aunque lo hayan hecho escritores de nota. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set la and les apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
la and les form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
la is recorded at frequency rank #2, classified as anarticle, pronounced [la]. les is at rank #101, tagged as apron, pronounced [les].
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 103, this pair ranks #323,774 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "la" and "les" be used interchangeably?
Remembering la vs les
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an article, it's “la”; for a pronoun, it's “les”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “la” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable