lealesvslegalesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,165
“leales” frequency rank
#2,508
“legales” frequency rank
12673
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leales legales
Definition Forma del plural de leal. Forma del plural de legal.

Where the eye mixes leales and legales

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. leales runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against legales's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
leales
7 ch
legales

Look-alike desk: leales vs legales

A purely visual mix-up. leales ([leˈales]) and legales ([leˈɣ̞ales]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12673, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leales is recorded at frequency rank #10,165, classified as anadj, pronounced [leˈales]. legales is at rank #2,508, tagged as anadj, pronounced [leˈɣ̞ales].

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 12673, this pair ranks #290,679 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leales vs legales

Shared letters: aels. Private to "leales": -. Private to "legales": g.

"leales" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "legales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leales ← elales · laeles · leaels · lealess · lealles · lealse · lelaes · lleales
  • legales ← elgales · leagles · legaels · legaless · legalles · legalse · leggales · leglaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leales" and "legales" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([leˈales] versus [leˈɣ̞ales]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "leales" or "legales" show up more?
"legales" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,508 in our Spanish list, against #10,165 for "leales". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "leales" and "legales" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leales" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "legales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #290,679 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leales" and "legales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leales vs leamos". 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 #290,679 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