Which to use
“leg” and “ley” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,212
- “leg” frequency rank
- #204
- “ley” frequency rank
- 38416
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leg | ley |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pierna | Disposición, regla o precepto dictado por la máxima autoridad. |
Where the eye mixes leg and ley
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses leg with ley
A purely visual mix-up. leg ([lɛɡ]) and ley ([ˈlej]) 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 a single letter - g in “leg” becomes y in “ley”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leg is recorded at frequency rank #38,212, classified as anoun, pronounced [lɛɡ]. ley is at rank #204, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlej].
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 38416, this pair ranks #170,144 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leg vs ley
Shared letters: el. Private to "leg": g. Private to "ley": y.
"leg" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "ley" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leg" and "ley" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "leg" or "ley" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "leg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ley" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,144 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leg" and "ley" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leg vs lies". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #170,144 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.