lealesvsleyesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leales is a adjective, leyes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leales” is an adjective and “leyes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,165
“leales” frequency rank
#878
“leyes” frequency rank
11043
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leales leyes
Definition Forma del plural de leal. Forma del plural de ley.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leales and leyes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
leales
5 ch
leyes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leales is [leˈales] while leyes is [ˈleʝes]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11043, 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]. leyes is at rank #878, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleʝes].

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 11043, this pair ranks #296,474 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leales vs leyes

Shared letters: els. Private to "leales": a. Private to "leyes": y.

"leales" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "leyes" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lealeselales · laeles · leaels · lealess · lealles · lealse · lelaes · lleales
  • leyeselyes · leeys · leyess · leyse · leyyes · lleyes · lyees

Frequency comparison

leales#10,165
leyes#878

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leales" and "leyes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leales" is an adjective and "leyes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leales" or "leyes"?
"leyes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #878 in our Spanish list, against #10,165 for "leales". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering leales vs leyes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “leales”; for a noun, it's “leyes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leales” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list