Which to use
“légale” is an adjective and “légalité” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,249
- “légale” frequency rank
- #11,803
- “légalité” frequency rank
- 16052
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légale | légalité |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de légal. | Caractère de ce qui est légal. |
Where the eye mixes légale and légalité
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. légale runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against légalité's 8 (CVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses légale with légalité
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: légale is \le.ɡal\ while légalité is \le.ɡa.li.te\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16052, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
légale is recorded at frequency rank #4,249, classified as anadj, pronounced \le.ɡal\. légalité is at rank #11,803, tagged as anoun, pronounced \le.ɡa.li.te\.
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 16052, this pair ranks #389,610 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of légale vs légalité
Shared letters: aglé. Private to "légale": e. Private to "légalité": it.
"légale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "légalité" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "légale" for "légalité" ever safe?
Which is more common, "légale" or "légalité"?
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 "légale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "légalité" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,610 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "légale" and "légalité" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "légale vs levage". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #389,610 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.