Which to use
“légale” is an adjective and “légat” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,249
- “légale” frequency rank
- #28,638
- “légat” frequency rank
- 32887
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légale | légat |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de légal. | Ambassadeur, lieutenant d’un commandant d'armée, ou haut fonctionnaire romain. |
Where the eye mixes légale and légat
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. légale runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against légat's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: légale vs légat
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: légale is \le.ɡal\ while légat is \le.ɡa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 32887, 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\. légat is at rank #28,638, tagged as anoun, pronounced \le.ɡa\.
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 32887, this pair ranks #294,286 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of légale vs légat
Shared letters: aglé. Private to "légale": e. Private to "légat": t.
"légale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "légat" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "légale" for "légat" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "légale" or "légat" show up more?
What to do next
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 "légat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,286 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "légale" and "légat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "légat vs Leia". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #294,286 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.