lèguevslenteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lègue is a verb, lente is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lègue” is a verb and “lente” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,472
“lègue” frequency rank
#7,854
“lente” frequency rank
40326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lègue lente
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de léguer. Œuf de pou.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lègue and lente apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
lègue
5 ch
lente

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lègue is \lɛɡ\ while lente is \lɑ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40326, 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\. lente is at rank #7,854, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɑ̃t\.

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 40326, this pair ranks #241,360 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lègue vs lente

Shared letters: el. Private to "lègue": guè. Private to "lente": nt.

"lègue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "lente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lenteelnte · lenet · lennte · lentte · letne · llente · lnete

Frequency comparison

lègue#32,472
lente#7,854

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lègue" and "lente" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lègue" is a verb and "lente" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lègue" or "lente"?
"lente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,854 in our French list, against #32,472 for "lègue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lègue vs lente

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “lègue”; for a noun, it's “lente”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lègue” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list