leavsluzConfusable pair

Quick tell: lea is a verb, luz is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lea” is a verb and “luz” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,323
“lea” frequency rank
#469
“luz” frequency rank
5792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lea luz
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de leer. Radiación electromagnética visible al ojo humano.

Where the eye mixes lea and luz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
lea
3 ch
luz

Why the eye confuses lea with luz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lea is [ˈlea] while luz is [ˈlus]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lea is recorded at frequency rank #5,323, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlea]. luz is at rank #469, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlus].

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 5792, this pair ranks #312,641 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lea vs luz

Shared letters: l. Private to "lea": ae. Private to "luz": uz.

"lea" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "luz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lea" and "luz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lea" is a verb and "luz" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lea" or "luz"?
"luz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #469 in our Spanish list, against #5,323 for "lea". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "luz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #312,641 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lea" and "luz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lea vs Lyra". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #312,641 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list