Which to use
“lebon” is an adverb and “lemon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,867
- “lebon” frequency rank
- #33,756
- “lemon” frequency rank
- 75623
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lebon | lemon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dans la nudité, de façon nue. | Citron jaune. |
Where the eye mixes lebon and lemon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lebon and lemon follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between lebon and lemon
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lebon is \lɛˈbɔn\ while lemon is \ˈlɛm.ən\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “lebon” becomes m in “lemon”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lebon is recorded at frequency rank #41,867, classified as anadv, pronounced \lɛˈbɔn\. lemon is at rank #33,756, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈlɛm.ən\.
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 75623, this pair ranks #33,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lebon vs lemon
Shared letters: elno. Private to "lebon": b. Private to "lemon": m.
"lebon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lemon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lebon" and "lemon" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lebon" vs "lemon" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lebon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lemon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lebon" and "lemon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lebon vs lobo". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #33,511 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.