Which to use
“législatif” is an adjective and “législation” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,266
- “législatif” frequency rank
- #4,777
- “législation” frequency rank
- 13043
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | législatif | législation |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui fait les lois. | Droit de faire les lois. |
Where the eye mixes législatif and législation
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. législatif runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCVC) against législation's 11 (CVCVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses législatif with législation
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: législatif is \le.ʒis.la.tif\ while législation is \le.ʒi.sla.sjɔ̃\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
législatif is recorded at frequency rank #8,266, classified as anadj, pronounced \le.ʒis.la.tif\. législation is at rank #4,777, tagged as anoun, pronounced \le.ʒi.sla.sjɔ̃\.
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 13043, this pair ranks #402,679 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of législatif vs législation
Shared letters: agilsté. Private to "législatif": f. Private to "législation": no.
"législatif" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "législation" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "législatif" for "législation" ever safe?
Frequency check: "législatif" vs "législation" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "législatif" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "législation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #402,679 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "législatif" and "législation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "législatif vs législatifs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #402,679 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.