leivslensWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,485
“lei” frequency rank
#47,908
“lens” frequency rank
57393
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lei lens
Definition Corona de flores que adorna el cuello y que se obsequia al llegar o marchar como símbolo de afecto. Lente.

Where the eye mixes lei and lens

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
lei
4 ch
lens

Visual trap between lei and lens

A purely visual mix-up. lei ([ˈlej]) and lens (/lɛnz/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lei is recorded at frequency rank #9,485, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlej]. lens is at rank #47,908, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɛnz/.

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 57393, this pair ranks #70,678 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lei vs lens

Shared letters: el. Private to "lei": i. Private to "lens": ns.

"lei" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "lens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lenselns · lenns · lenss · lesn · llens · lnes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lei" and "lens" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlej] versus /lɛnz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "lei" or "lens" show up more?
"lei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,485 in our Spanish list, against #47,908 for "lens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #70,678 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lei" and "lens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lens vs llené". 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 #70,678 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