Which to use
“lep” is an adjective and “leve” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,766
- “lep” frequency rank
- #39,877
- “leve” frequency rank
- 89643
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lep | leve |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Beau, agréable. | Pension. |
Where the eye mixes lep and leve
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lep runs 3 letters (CVC) against leve's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses lep with leve
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lep is \lɛːp\ while leve is \ˈleː.ve\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lep is recorded at frequency rank #49,766, classified as anadj, pronounced \lɛːp\. 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 89643, this pair ranks #5,571 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lep vs leve
Shared letters: el. Private to "lep": p. Private to "leve": v.
"lep" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "leve" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- leve ← elve · leev · levve · lleve · lvee
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lep" for "leve" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "lep" or "leve" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lep" 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 #5,571 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lep" and "leve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lar 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 #5,571 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.