Which to use
“lea” is a pronoun and “leaks” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,375
- “lea” frequency rank
- #44,019
- “leaks” frequency rank
- 65394
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lea | leaks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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’. | Pluriel de leak. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lea and leaks apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lea is \lə.a\ while leaks is \ˈliks\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “lea” sits inside “leaks”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lea is recorded at frequency rank #21,375, classified as apron, pronounced \lə.a\. leaks is at rank #44,019, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈliks\.
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 65394, this pair ranks #72,566 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lea vs leaks
Shared letters: ael. Private to "lea": -. Private to "leaks": ks.
"lea" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "leaks" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- leaks ← elaks · laeks · leakks · leakss · leask · lekas · lleaks
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lea" and "leaks" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lea" or "leaks"?
Remembering lea vs leaks
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “lea”; for a noun, it's “leaks”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lea” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable