larvsleaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lar is a adverb, lea is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lar” is an adverb and “lea” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,637
“lar” frequency rank
#21,375
“lea” frequency rank
70012
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lar lea
Definition Trop. Pronom représentant la personne dont on parle et dont le genre est inconnu ou non-binaire. Utilisé en tant que complément d’objet direct. Devant un son vocalique (voyelle ou h muet), le ea est généralement élidé et le pronom se transforme en l’.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lar and lea apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
lar
3 ch
lea

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lar is anadverb and leaapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70012, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lar is recorded at frequency rank #48,637, classified as anadv. lea is at rank #21,375, tagged as apron, pronounced \lə.a\.

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 70012, this pair ranks #52,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lar vs lea

Shared letters: al. Private to "lar": r. Private to "lea": e.

"lar" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lea" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

lar#48,637
lea#21,375

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lar" and "lea" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lar" is an adverb and "lea" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lar" or "lea"?
"lea" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,375 in our French list, against #48,637 for "lar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lar vs lea

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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