Which to use
“lègue” is a verb and “légume” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,472
- “lègue” frequency rank
- #17,474
- “légume” frequency rank
- 49946
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lègue | légume |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de léguer. | 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 eye mixes lègue and légume
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lègue runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against légume's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lègue and légume
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lègue is \lɛɡ\ while légume is \le.ɡym\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lègue is recorded at frequency rank #32,472, classified as averb, pronounced \lɛɡ\. 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 49946, this pair ranks #166,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lègue vs légume
Shared letters: eglu. Private to "lègue": è. Private to "légume": mé.
"lègue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "légume" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lègue" for "légume" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "lègue" or "légume" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lègue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "légume" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #166,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lègue" and "légume" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lègue vs leste". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #166,583 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.