leguavsllegaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,419
“legua” frequency rank
#772
“llega” frequency rank
32191
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature legua llega
Definition Medida de longitud, de dimensión variable según los sistemas, aproximadamente equivalente a la distancia recorrida durante una hora caminando a paso normal. Acción y efecto de recoger, allegar o juntar.

Where the eye mixes legua and llega

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. legua (CVCVV) and llega (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
legua
5 ch
llega

Visual trap between legua and llega

A purely visual mix-up. legua ([ˈleɣ̞wa]) and llega ([ˈʝeɣ̞a]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32191, 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]. llega is at rank #772, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʝeɣ̞a].

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 32191, this pair ranks #203,279 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of legua vs llega

Shared letters: aegl. Private to "legua": u. Private to "llega": -.

"legua" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "llega" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • legua ← elgua · legau · leggua · leuga · lgeua · llegua
  • llega ← lelga · lleag · llegga · llgea

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "legua" for "llega" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleɣ̞wa] versus [ˈʝeɣ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "legua" or "llega" show up more?
"llega" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #772 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.

Useful next steps

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 "llega" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #203,279 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "legua" and "llega" 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 #203,279 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