levavsleyóWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leva is a noun, leyó is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leva” is a noun and “leyó” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,930
“leva” frequency rank
#9,486
“leyó” frequency rank
50416
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leva leyó
Definition Acción y efecto de levar anclas. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de leer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leva and leyó apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
leva
4 ch
leyó

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

leva and leyó form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leva is recorded at frequency rank #40,930, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈleβ̞a]. leyó is at rank #9,486, tagged as averb, pronounced [leˈʝo].

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 50416, this pair ranks #103,326 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

leva#40,930
leyó#9,486

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leva" and "leyó" be used interchangeably?
No, "leva" and "leyó" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering leva vs leyó

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “leva”; for a verb, it's “leyó”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leva” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list