leivslevaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,485
“lei” frequency rank
#40,930
“leva” frequency rank
50415
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lei leva
Definition Corona de flores que adorna el cuello y que se obsequia al llegar o marchar como símbolo de afecto. Acción y efecto de levar anclas.

Where the eye mixes lei and leva

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

3 ch
lei
4 ch
leva

Look-alike desk: lei vs leva

A purely visual mix-up. lei ([ˈlej]) and leva ([ˈleβ̞a]) 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 50415, 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]. leva is at rank #40,930, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleβ̞a].

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 50415, this pair ranks #103,332 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lei vs leva

Shared letters: el. Private to "lei": i. Private to "leva": av.

"lei" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "leva" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • levaleav · levva · lleva · lvea

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lei" and "leva" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlej] versus [ˈleβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lei" or "leva"?
"lei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,485 in our Spanish list, against #40,930 for "leva". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "lei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #103,332 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lei" and "leva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leva vs Lyra". 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 #103,332 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