Which to use
“lei” is a noun and “les” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,485
- “lei” frequency rank
- #101
- “les” frequency rank
- 9586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lei | les |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Corona de flores que adorna el cuello y que se obsequia al llegar o marchar como símbolo de afecto. | Forma del dativo de ellos. Dativo del pronombre personal de tercera persona en género masculino o femenino y número plural. No admite preposición y se puede usar como sufijo: LES di; daLES. Es grave incorrección emplear en este caso para el género masculino la forma los, propia del acusativo, y en femenino tampoco debe emplearse la forma las, aunque lo hayan hecho escritores de nota. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lei and les apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
lei and les form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - i in “lei” becomes s in “les” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9586, 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]. les is at rank #101, tagged as apron, pronounced [les].
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 9586, this pair ranks #301,478 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lei" and "les" be used interchangeably?
Remembering lei vs les
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lei”; for a pronoun, it's “les”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lei” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable