leditvsleiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ledit is a determiner, lei is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ledit” is a determiner and “lei” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,169
“ledit” frequency rank
#30,248
“lei” frequency rank
46417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ledit lei
Definition Indique la personne ou la chose dont on a parlé, ou que l’on a mentionnée précédemment. Pluriel de leu.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
ledit
3 ch
lei

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ledit is \lə.di\ while lei is \lɛj\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ledit is recorded at frequency rank #16,169, classified as adet, pronounced \lə.di\. lei is at rank #30,248, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛj\.

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 46417, this pair ranks #195,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ledit vs lei

Shared letters: eil. Private to "ledit": dt. Private to "lei": -.

"ledit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lei" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lediteldit · ldeit · leddit · leditt · ledti · leidt · lledit

Frequency comparison

ledit#16,169
lei#30,248

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ledit" and "lei" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ledit" is a determiner and "lei" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ledit" or "lei"?
"ledit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,169 in our French list, against #30,248 for "lei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ledit vs lei

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “ledit”; for a noun, it's “lei”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ledit” 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