levéesvslèvreWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,750
“levées” frequency rank
#13,423
“lèvre” frequency rank
31173
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature levées lèvre
Definition Féminin pluriel de levé. 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 levées and lèvre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
levées
5 ch
lèvre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: levées is \lə.ve\ while lèvre is \lɛvʁ\. 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 31173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

levées is recorded at frequency rank #17,750, classified as anadj, pronounced \lə.ve\. 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 31173, this pair ranks #305,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of levées vs lèvre

Shared letters: elv. Private to "levées": . Private to "lèvre": .

"levées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "lèvre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequency comparison

levées#17,750
lèvre#13,423

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "levées" and "lèvre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "levées" is an adjective and "lèvre" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "levées" or "lèvre"?
"lèvre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,423 in our French list, against #17,750 for "levées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering levées vs lèvre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “levées”; for a noun, it's “lèvre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “levées” 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