lemmevsleveWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“lemme” and “leve” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,640
“lemme” frequency rank
#39,877
“leve” frequency rank
88517
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lemme leve
Definition Proposition dont la démonstration est nécessaire pour une autre proposition qui doit la suivre. Pension.

Where the eye mixes lemme and leve

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lemme runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against leve's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
lemme
4 ch
leve

Look-alike desk: lemme vs leve

A purely visual mix-up. lemme (\lɛm\) and leve (\ˈleː.ve\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lemme is recorded at frequency rank #48,640, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛm\. leve is at rank #39,877, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈleː.ve\.

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 88517, this pair ranks #6,892 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lemme vs leve

Shared letters: el. Private to "lemme": m. Private to "leve": v.

"lemme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "leve" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lemme ← elmme · leme · lemem · llemme · lmeme
  • leve ← elve · leev · levve · lleve · lvee

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lemme" and "leve" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lɛm\ versus \ˈleː.ve\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lemme" or "leve"?
"leve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,877 in our French list, against #48,640 for "lemme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "lemme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,892 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lemme" and "leve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lemme vs leste". 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 #6,892 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list