levslhesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: le is a article, lhes is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“le” is an article and “lhes” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,016
“le” frequency rank
#1,095
“lhes” frequency rank
3111
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature le lhes
Definition partícula gramatical usada antes de substantivos ou palavras substantivadas; por geral indica uma coisa em particular pronome pessoal dativo, de dois gêneros, da terceira pessoa do plural (eles, elas, vocês)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set le and lhes apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
le
4 ch
lhes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: le is anarticle and lhesapronoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3111, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

le is recorded at frequency rank #2,016, classified as anarticle. lhes is at rank #1,095, tagged as apron.

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 3111, this pair ranks #72,094 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of le vs lhes

Shared letters: el. Private to "le": -. Private to "lhes": hs.

"le" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "lhes" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lheshles · lehs · lhess · lhhes · lhse · llhes

Frequency comparison

le#2,016
lhes#1,095

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "le" and "lhes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "le" is an article and "lhes" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "le" or "lhes"?
"lhes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,095 in our Portuguese list, against #2,016 for "le". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering le vs lhes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an article, it's “le”; for a pronoun, it's “lhes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “le” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list