Which to use
“la” and “les” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2
- “la” frequency rank
- #7
- “les” frequency rank
- 9
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | la | les |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de le. Détermine un groupe nominal féminin singulier. | Pluriel de le ou la. |
Where the eye mixes la and les
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. la (\la\) and les (\le\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
la is recorded at frequency rank #2, classified as anarticle, pronounced \la\. les is at rank #7, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \le\.
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 9, this pair ranks #440,169 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of la vs les
Shared letters: l. Private to "la": a. Private to "les": es.
"la" · 2 letters · shape CV · "les" · 3 letters · shape CVC