legavslleganWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,002
“lega” frequency rank
#1,737
“llegan” frequency rank
43739
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lega llegan
Definition Forma del femenino singular de lego. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de llegar o de llegarse.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
lega
6 ch
llegan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lega is [ˈleɣ̞a] while llegan is [ˈʝeɣ̞ãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “lega” sits inside “llegan”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lega is recorded at frequency rank #42,002, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleɣ̞a]. llegan is at rank #1,737, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʝeɣ̞ãn].

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 43739, this pair ranks #140,966 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lega vs llegan

Shared letters: aegl. Private to "lega": -. Private to "llegan": n.

"lega" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "llegan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • legaelga · leag · legga · lgea
  • lleganlegan · lelgan · lleagn · llegann · lleggan · llegna · llgean

Frequency comparison

lega#42,002
llegan#1,737

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lega" and "llegan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lega" is an adjective and "llegan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lega" or "llegan"?
"llegan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,737 in our Spanish list, against #42,002 for "lega". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering lega vs llegan

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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