Which to use
“leían” is a verb and “lemas” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,830
- “leían” frequency rank
- #28,429
- “lemas” frequency rank
- 73259
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leían | lemas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de leer. | Forma del plural de lema. |
Where the eye mixes leían and lemas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leían (CVVVC) and lemas (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses leían with lemas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leían is [leˈiãn] while lemas is [ˈlemas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leían is recorded at frequency rank #44,830, classified as averb, pronounced [leˈiãn]. lemas is at rank #28,429, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlemas].
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 73259, this pair ranks #23,676 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of leían vs lemas
Shared letters: ael. Private to "leían": ní. Private to "lemas": ms.
"leían" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "lemas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lemas ← elmas · leams · lemass · lemmas · lemsa · llemas · lmeas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leían" for "lemas" ever safe?
Frequency check: "leían" vs "lemas" - which ranks higher?
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 "leían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lemas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,676 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leían" and "lemas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leían vs lucían". 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 #23,676 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.