Which to use
“lem” is a noun and “Lemay” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,348
- “lem” frequency rank
- #41,384
- “Lemay” frequency rank
- 81732
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lem | Lemay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Membre, partie du corps. | Nom de famille. |
Letter map: lem vs Lemay
Shared letters muted; letters that set lem and Lemay apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Grammar separator: lem vs Lemay
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lem is anoun and Lemayaname. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “lem” sits inside “Lemay”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81732, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lem is recorded at frequency rank #40,348, classified as anoun. Lemay is at rank #41,384, tagged as aname, pronounced \lə.me\.
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 81732, this pair ranks #18,143 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lem vs Lemay
Shared letters: elm. Private to "lem": -. Private to "Lemay": ay.
"lem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Lemay" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Lemay ← elmay · leamy · lemayy · lemmay · lemya · llemay · lmeay
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lem" and "Lemay" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lem" or "Lemay"?
After this comparison
You've compared "lem" and "Lemay". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "lem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lemay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,143 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lem" and "Lemay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lem vs lep". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #18,143 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.