Which to use
“légale” is an adjective and “lègue” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,249
- “légale” frequency rank
- #32,472
- “lègue” frequency rank
- 36721
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légale | lègue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de légal. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de léguer. |
Where the eye mixes légale and lègue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. légale runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against lègue's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: légale vs lègue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: légale is \le.ɡal\ while lègue is \lɛɡ\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36721, 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\. 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 36721, this pair ranks #267,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of légale vs lègue
Shared letters: egl. Private to "légale": aé. Private to "lègue": uè.
"légale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "lègue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "légale" and "lègue" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "légale" or "lègue" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "légale" and "lègue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "légale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lègue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #267,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "légale" and "lègue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lègue vs leste". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #267,587 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.