legvslègueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,893
“leg” frequency rank
#32,472
“lègue” frequency rank
70365
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leg lègue
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’impératif à la forme active de legen. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de léguer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leg and lègue apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
leg
5 ch
lègue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. leg (\leːk\) and lègue (\lɛɡ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leg is recorded at frequency rank #37,893, classified as averb, pronounced \leːk\. lègue is at rank #32,472, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɛɡ\.

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 70365, this pair ranks #51,585 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of leg vs lègue

Shared letters: egl. Private to "leg": -. Private to "lègue": .

"leg" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lègue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

leg#37,893
lègue#32,472

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leg" and "lègue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\leːk\ versus \lɛɡ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "leg" or "lègue"?
"lègue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,472 in our French list, against #37,893 for "leg". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leg vs lègue

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 “leg” 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