Which to use
“légale” and “légère” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,249
- “légale” frequency rank
- #3,019
- “légère” frequency rank
- 7268
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légale | légère |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de légal. | Féminin singulier de léger. |
Where the eye mixes légale and légère
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. légale and légère follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: légale vs légère
A purely visual mix-up. légale (\le.ɡal\) and légère (\le.ʒɛʁ\) 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 7268, 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\. légère is at rank #3,019, tagged as anadj, pronounced \le.ʒɛʁ\.
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 7268, this pair ranks #423,666 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of légale vs légère
Shared letters: eglé. Private to "légale": a. Private to "légère": rè.
"légale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "légère" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "légale" and "légère" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "légale" or "légère"?
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 "légère" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #423,666 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "légale" and "légère" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "légère vs ligure". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #423,666 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.