légale vs létale, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“légale” and “létale” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,249
“légale” frequency rank: #35,585
“létale” frequency rank: 39834
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	légale	létale
Definition	Féminin singulier de légal.	Féminin singulier de létal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set légale and létale apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

légale

6 ch

létale

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. légale (\le.ɡal\) and létale (\le.tal\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - g in “légale” becomes t in “létale”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39834, 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\. létale is at rank #35,585, tagged as anadj, pronounced \le.tal\.

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 39834, this pair ranks #245,017 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of légale vs létale

Shared letters: aelé. Private to "légale": g. Private to "létale": t.

"légale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "létale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

légale#4,249

létale#35,585

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "légale" and "létale" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\le.ɡal\ versus \le.tal\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "légale" or "létale"?

"légale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,249 in our French list, against #35,585 for "létale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering légale vs létale

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “légale” entry
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