Which to use
“légère” is an adjective and “légume” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,019
- “légère” frequency rank
- #17,474
- “légume” frequency rank
- 20493
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légère | légume |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de léger. | Toute sorte d’herbes potagères, de plantes, de racines, de graines comestibles. Organisme végétal considéré en tant qu’aliment et utilisé principalement dans des plats salés (par opposition aux fruits) et en quantité substantielle (par opposition aux épices et aux herbes) ; on y inclus parfois les champignons comestibles. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set légère and légume apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
légère and légume form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
légère is recorded at frequency rank #3,019, classified as anadj, pronounced \le.ʒɛʁ\. légume is at rank #17,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced \le.ɡym\.
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 20493, this pair ranks #368,008 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "légère" and "légume" be used interchangeably?
Remembering légère vs légume
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “légère”; for a noun, it's “légume”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “légère” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable