Which to use
“légaux” and “locaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,308
- “légaux” frequency rank
- #1,665
- “locaux” frequency rank
- 15973
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légaux | locaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de légal. | Masculin pluriel de local. |
Where the eye mixes légaux and locaux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. légaux and locaux follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses légaux with locaux
A purely visual mix-up. légaux (\le.ɡo\) and locaux (\lɔ.ko\) 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 15973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
légaux is recorded at frequency rank #14,308, classified as anadj, pronounced \le.ɡo\. locaux is at rank #1,665, tagged as anadj, pronounced \lɔ.ko\.
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 15973, this pair ranks #389,989 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of légaux vs locaux
Shared letters: alux. Private to "légaux": gé. Private to "locaux": co.
"légaux" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "locaux" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- locaux ← lcoaux · llocaux · loacux · locauxx · locaxu · loccaux · locuax · olcaux
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "légaux" and "locaux" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "légaux" or "locaux"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "légaux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "locaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,989 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "légaux" and "locaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "legacy vs légaux". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #389,989 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.