ledovsleerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ledo is a adjective, leer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ledo” is an adjective and “leer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,033
“ledo” frequency rank
#610
“leer” frequency rank
46643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ledo leer
Definition Alegre, contento. Interpretar lo impreso o lo escrito por el conocimiento de los signos.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ledo and leer apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
ledo
4 ch
leer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ledo is [ˈleð̞ʊ] while leer is [leˈeɾ]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ledo is recorded at frequency rank #46,033, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleð̞ʊ]. leer is at rank #610, tagged as averb, pronounced [leˈeɾ].

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 46643, this pair ranks #124,580 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ledo vs leer

Shared letters: el. Private to "ledo": do. Private to "leer": r.

"ledo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "leer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ledoeldo · ldeo · leddo · leod · lledo
  • leereler · leerr · ler · lere · lleer

Frequency comparison

ledo#46,033
leer#610

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ledo" and "leer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ledo" is an adjective and "leer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ledo" or "leer"?
"leer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #610 in our Spanish list, against #46,033 for "ledo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ledo vs leer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “ledo”; for a verb, it's “leer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ledo” 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