Which to use
“lb” is a symbol and “lem” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,921
- “lb” frequency rank
- #40,348
- “lem” frequency rank
- 63269
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lb | lem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Symbole de la livre (pound), unité de mesure de masse anglo-saxonne. Cette livre est ordinairement dans le système avoir-du-poids ; il y a aussi une livre apothicaire (apothecary pound ou troy pound) — les symboles respectifs sont lb av et lb t ou lb Tr. La livre française, elle, avait pour symbole lp. | Membre, partie du corps. |
Letter map: lb vs lem
Shared letters muted; letters that set lb and lem apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for lb / lem
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lb is asymbol and lemanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lb is recorded at frequency rank #22,921, classified as asymbol. lem is at rank #40,348, tagged as anoun.
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 63269, this pair ranks #82,835 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lb vs lem
Shared letters: l. Private to "lb": b. Private to "lem": em.
"lb" · 2 letters · shape CC · "lem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lb" and "lem" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "lb" or "lem" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "lb" and "lem".
- Full dictionary entry for "lb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #82,835 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lb" and "lem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lem vs lep". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #82,835 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.