leçonvslégionWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,467
“leçon” frequency rank
#6,410
“légion” frequency rank
9877
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leçon légion
Definition Petite portion d’une discipline enseignée à un groupe de personnes ou à une seule personne. Corps d’infanterie romaine ayant varié de quatre mille soldats sous la République romaine à six mille sous le Haut-Empire et environ mille au Bas-Empire, commandé par un légat de rang sénatorial.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
leçon
6 ch
légion

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. leçon (\lə.sɔ̃\) and légion (\le.ʒjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leçon is recorded at frequency rank #3,467, classified as anoun, pronounced \lə.sɔ̃\. légion is at rank #6,410, tagged as anoun, pronounced \le.ʒjɔ̃\.

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 9877, this pair ranks #415,077 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leçon vs légion

Shared letters: lno. Private to "leçon": . Private to "légion": gié.

"leçon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "légion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequency comparison

leçon#3,467
légion#6,410

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leçon" and "légion" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lə.sɔ̃\ versus \le.ʒjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "leçon" or "légion"?
"leçon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,467 in our French list, against #6,410 for "légion". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leçon vs légion

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 “leçon” 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