Which to use
“la” is a pronoun and “le” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #163
- “la” frequency rank
- #2,016
- “le” frequency rank
- 2179
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | la | le |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mesmo que a, utilizado em ênclise com verbos que terminam em -z, -r ou -s | partícula gramatical usada antes de substantivos ou palavras substantivadas; por geral indica uma coisa em particular |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set la and le apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
la and le form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - a in “la” becomes e in “le” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
la is recorded at frequency rank #163, classified as apron. le is at rank #2,016, tagged as anarticle.
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 2179, this pair ranks #73,300 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "la" and "le" be used interchangeably?
Remembering la vs le
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “la”; for an article, it's “le”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “la” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable