Which to use
“légale” and “légaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,249
- “légale” frequency rank
- #14,308
- “légaux” frequency rank
- 18557
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légale | légaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de légal. | Masculin pluriel de légal. |
Where the eye mixes légale and légaux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. légale (CVCVCV) and légaux (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses légale with légaux
A purely visual mix-up. légale (\le.ɡal\) and légaux (\le.ɡo\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18557, 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\. légaux is at rank #14,308, tagged as anadj, pronounced \le.ɡo\.
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 18557, this pair ranks #377,713 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of légale vs légaux
Shared letters: aglé. Private to "légale": e. Private to "légaux": ux.
"légale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "légaux" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "légale" and "légaux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "légale" or "légaux" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "légale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "légaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #377,713 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "légale" and "légaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "legacy vs légaux". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #377,713 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.