légères vs levées, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#9,508
“légères” frequency rank: #17,750
“levées” frequency rank: 27258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	légères	levées
Definition	Féminin pluriel de léger.	Féminin pluriel de levé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set légères and levées apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

légères

6 ch

levées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. légères (\le.ʒɛʁ\) and levées (\lə.ve\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

légères is recorded at frequency rank #9,508, classified as anadj, pronounced \le.ʒɛʁ\. levées is at rank #17,750, tagged as anadj, pronounced \lə.ve\.

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 27258, this pair ranks #330,157 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of légères vs levées

Shared letters: elsé. Private to "légères": grè. Private to "levées": v.

"légères" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "levées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequency comparison

légères#9,508

levées#17,750

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "légères" and "levées" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "légères" or "levées"?

"légères" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,508 in our French list, against #17,750 for "levées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering légères vs levées

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 “légères” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable