Which to use
“lea” is a pronoun and “lo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,375
- “lea” frequency rank
- #8,119
- “lo” frequency rank
- 29494
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lea | lo |
|---|---|---|
| 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’. | Année. |
Where the eye mixes lea and lo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between lea and lo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lea is \lə.a\ while lo is \lo\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29494, 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\. lo is at rank #8,119, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lo\.
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 29494, this pair ranks #316,324 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lea vs lo
Shared letters: l. Private to "lea": ae. Private to "lo": o.
"lea" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "lo" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lea" and "lo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lea" vs "lo" - 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 "lea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,324 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lea" and "lo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lea vs lep". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #316,324 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.