Which to use
“leçon” and “lemon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,467
- “leçon” frequency rank
- #33,756
- “lemon” frequency rank
- 37223
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leçon | lemon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petite portion d’une discipline enseignée à un groupe de personnes ou à une seule personne. | Citron jaune. |
Where the eye mixes leçon and lemon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: leçon vs lemon
A purely visual mix-up. leçon (\lə.sɔ̃\) and lemon (\ˈlɛm.ən\) 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 a single letter - ç in “leçon” becomes m in “lemon”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37223, 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\. 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 37223, this pair ranks #264,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leçon vs lemon
Shared letters: elno. Private to "leçon": ç. Private to "lemon": m.
"leçon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lemon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lemon ← elmon · lemmon · lemno · lemonn · leomn · llemon · lmeon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leçon" for "lemon" ever safe?
Which is more common, "leçon" or "lemon"?
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 "leçon" 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 #264,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leçon" and "lemon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lemme vs lemon". 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 #264,023 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.