leavevslemmeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leave is a verb, lemme is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leave” is a verb and “lemme” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,029
“leave” frequency rank
#48,640
“lemme” frequency rank
73669
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leave lemme
Definition Partir, s’en aller. Proposition dont la démonstration est nécessaire pour une autre proposition qui doit la suivre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leave and lemme apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
leave
5 ch
lemme

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leave is \ˈliv\ while lemme is \lɛm\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73669, 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\. lemme is at rank #48,640, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛm\.

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 73669, this pair ranks #39,688 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of leave vs lemme

Shared letters: el. Private to "leave": av. Private to "lemme": m.

"leave" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "lemme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leaveelave · laeve · leaev · leavve · levae · lleave
  • lemmeelmme · leme · lemem · llemme · lmeme

Frequency comparison

leave#25,029
lemme#48,640

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leave" and "lemme" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leave" is a verb and "lemme" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leave" or "lemme"?
"leave" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,029 in our French list, against #48,640 for "lemme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leave vs lemme

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “leave”; for a noun, it's “lemme”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list