leaguevslenguaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“league” and “lengua” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,544
“league” frequency rank
#1,057
“lengua” frequency rank
9601
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature league lengua
Definition Liga, asociación. Órgano ubicado en el interior de la boca de personas y animales, con ella se percibe el sentido del gusto y se modifican los sonidos producidos en la boca.

Where the eye mixes league and lengua

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. league (CVVCVV) and lengua (CVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
league
6 ch
lengua

Why the eye confuses league with lengua

A purely visual mix-up. league (/liːɡ/) and lengua ([ˈlẽŋgwa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

league is recorded at frequency rank #8,544, classified as anoun, pronounced /liːɡ/. lengua is at rank #1,057, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlẽŋgwa].

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 9601, this pair ranks #301,444 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of league vs lengua

Shared letters: aeglu. Private to "league": -. Private to "lengua": n.

"league" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV  ·  "lengua" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • league ← elague · laegue · leageu · leaggue · leauge · legaue · lleague
  • lengua ← elngua · legnua · lengau · lenggua · lenngua · lenuga · llengua · lnegua

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "league" and "lengua" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/liːɡ/ versus [ˈlẽŋgwa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "league" or "lengua"?
"lengua" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,057 in our Spanish list, against #8,544 for "league". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "league" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lengua" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #301,444 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "league" and "lengua" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "league vs leave". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #301,444 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