leavevslègueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“leave” and “lègue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,029
“leave” frequency rank
#32,472
“lègue” frequency rank
57501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leave lègue
Definition Partir, s’en aller. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de léguer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
leave
5 ch
lègue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. leave (\ˈliv\) and lègue (\lɛɡ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leave is recorded at frequency rank #25,029, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈliv\. lègue is at rank #32,472, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɛɡ\.

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 57501, this pair ranks #114,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leave vs lègue

Shared letters: el. Private to "leave": av. Private to "lègue": guè.

"leave" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "lègue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leaveelave · laeve · leaev · leavve · levae · lleave

Frequency comparison

leave#25,029
lègue#32,472

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leave" and "lègue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈliv\ versus \lɛɡ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "leave" or "lègue"?
"leave" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,029 in our French list, against #32,472 for "lègue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leave vs lègue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leave” 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