lèguevslèvreWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#32,472
“lègue” frequency rank
#13,423
“lèvre” frequency rank
45895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lègue lèvre
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de léguer. Partie extérieure et charnue qui borde la bouche, qui couvre les dents et qui aide à la formation des sons, à l’articulation des mots. Note d’usage : Très souvent employé au pluriel pour comprendre la lèvre supérieure et la lèvre inférieure.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lègue and lèvre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
lègue
5 ch
lèvre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lègue is \lɛɡ\ while lèvre is \lɛvʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 45895, 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\. lèvre is at rank #13,423, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛvʁ\.

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 45895, this pair ranks #199,220 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lègue vs lèvre

Shared letters: elè. Private to "lègue": gu. Private to "lèvre": rv.

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

Frequency comparison

lègue#32,472
lèvre#13,423

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lègue" and "lèvre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lègue" is a verb and "lèvre" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lègue" or "lèvre"?
"lèvre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,423 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 lèvre

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 “lèvre”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list