Which to use
“lace” and “leave” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,860
- “lace” frequency rank
- #25,029
- “leave” frequency rank
- 66889
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lace | leave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de lacer. | Partir, s’en aller. |
Where the eye mixes lace and leave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lace runs 4 letters (CVCV) against leave's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lace and leave
A purely visual mix-up. lace (\las\) and leave (\ˈliv\) 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 66889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lace is recorded at frequency rank #41,860, classified as averb, pronounced \las\. leave is at rank #25,029, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈliv\.
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 66889, this pair ranks #65,853 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lace vs leave
Shared letters: ael. Private to "lace": c. Private to "leave": v.
"lace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "leave" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lace" for "leave" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lace" vs "leave" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,853 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lace" and "leave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lace vs lago". 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 #65,853 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.