leguavslenguasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,419
“legua” frequency rank
#2,892
“lenguas” frequency rank
34311
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature legua lenguas
Definition Medida de longitud, de dimensión variable según los sistemas, aproximadamente equivalente a la distancia recorrida durante una hora caminando a paso normal. Forma del plural de lengua.

Where the eye mixes legua and lenguas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. legua runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against lenguas's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
legua
7 ch
lenguas

Look-alike desk: legua vs lenguas

A purely visual mix-up. legua ([ˈleɣ̞wa]) and lenguas ([ˈlẽŋgwas]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

legua is recorded at frequency rank #31,419, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈleɣ̞wa]. lenguas is at rank #2,892, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlẽŋgwas].

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 34311, this pair ranks #192,151 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of legua vs lenguas

Shared letters: aeglu. Private to "legua": -. Private to "lenguas": ns.

"legua" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "lenguas" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • legua ← elgua · legau · leggua · leuga · lgeua · llegua
  • lenguas ← elnguas · legnuas · lengaus · lengguas · lenguass · lengusa · lennguas · lenugas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "legua" and "lenguas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleɣ̞wa] versus [ˈlẽŋgwas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "legua" or "lenguas" show up more?
"lenguas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,892 in our Spanish list, against #31,419 for "legua". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "legua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lenguas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #192,151 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "legua" and "lenguas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lega vs legua". 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 #192,151 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