levesvslivesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leves is a adjective, lives is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leves” is an adjective and “lives” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,882
“leves” frequency rank
#34,192
“lives” frequency rank
49074
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leves lives
Definition Forma del plural de leve. Segunda persona del singular del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de livañ o liviñ.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leves and lives apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
leves
5 ch
lives

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leves is [ˈleβ̞es] while lives is /ˈliː.vɛs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “leves” becomes i in “lives”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leves is recorded at frequency rank #14,882, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleβ̞es]. lives is at rank #34,192, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈliː.vɛs/.

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 49074, this pair ranks #110,865 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leves vs lives

Shared letters: elsv. Private to "leves": -. Private to "lives": i.

"leves" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leveselves · lebes · leevs · levess · levse · levves · lleves · lvees
  • livesilves · libes · lievs · livess · livse · livves · llives · lvies

Frequency comparison

leves#14,882
lives#34,192

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leves" and "lives" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leves" is an adjective and "lives" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leves" or "lives"?
"leves" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,882 in our Spanish list, against #34,192 for "lives". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leves vs lives

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “leves”; for a verb, it's “lives”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leves” 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