levesvsllevenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#14,882
“leves” frequency rank
#6,200
“lleven” frequency rank
21082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leves lleven
Definition Forma del plural de leve. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de llevar o de llevarse.

Where the eye mixes leves and lleven

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leves runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lleven's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
leves
6 ch
lleven

Visual trap between leves and lleven

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leves is [ˈleβ̞es] while lleven is [ˈʝeβ̞ẽn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21082, 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]. lleven is at rank #6,200, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʝeβ̞ẽn].

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 21082, this pair ranks #256,507 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leves vs lleven

Shared letters: elv. Private to "leves": s. Private to "lleven": n.

"leves" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lleven" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leves ← elves · lebes · leevs · levess · levse · levves · lleves · lvees
  • lleven ← lelven · leven · lleben · lleevn · llevenn · llevne · llevven · llveen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "leves" and "lleven" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leves" is an adjective and "lleven" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "leves" or "lleven" show up more?
"lleven" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,200 in our Spanish list, against #14,882 for "leves". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "leves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lleven" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #256,507 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leves" and "lleven" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leves vs lies". 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 #256,507 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