Which to use
“létale” is an adjective and “lettre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,585
- “létale” frequency rank
- #1,002
- “lettre” frequency rank
- 36587
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | létale | lettre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de létal. | Chacun des caractères d’un alphabet représentant un son, voyelle ou consonne. |
Where the eye mixes létale and lettre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. létale (CVCVCV) and lettre (CVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses létale with lettre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: létale is \le.tal\ while lettre is \lɛtʁ\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
létale is recorded at frequency rank #35,585, classified as anadj, pronounced \le.tal\. lettre is at rank #1,002, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛtʁ\.
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 36587, this pair ranks #268,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of létale vs lettre
Shared letters: elt. Private to "létale": aé. Private to "lettre": r.
"létale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "lettre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lettre ← elttre · letre · letrte · lettrre · llettre · ltetre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "létale" for "lettre" ever safe?
Frequency check: "létale" vs "lettre" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "létale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lettre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #268,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "létale" and "lettre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "létale vs levage". 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 #268,540 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.