leyvsluzWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#204
“ley” frequency rank
#469
“luz” frequency rank
673
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ley luz
Definition Disposición, regla o precepto dictado por la máxima autoridad. Radiación electromagnética visible al ojo humano.

Where the eye mixes ley and luz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ley
3 ch
luz

Look-alike desk: ley vs luz

A purely visual mix-up. ley ([ˈlej]) and luz ([ˈlus]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 673, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ley is recorded at frequency rank #204, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlej]. luz is at rank #469, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlus].

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 673, this pair ranks #323,111 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ley vs luz

Shared letters: l. Private to "ley": ey. Private to "luz": uz.

"ley" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "luz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ley" for "luz" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlej] versus [ˈlus]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ley" or "luz"?
"ley" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #204 in our Spanish list, against #469 for "luz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ley" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "luz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #323,111 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ley" and "luz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs luz". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #323,111 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