Which to use
“lead” is an adjective and “leg” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,835
- “lead” frequency rank
- #33,059
- “leg” frequency rank
- 50894
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lead | leg |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o mais importante | perna |
Where the eye mixes lead and leg
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lead with leg
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lead is AFI: /lɛd/ while leg is /lɛɡ/. 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 50894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lead is recorded at frequency rank #17,835, classified as anadj, pronounced AFI: /lɛd/. leg is at rank #33,059, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɛɡ/.
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 50894, this pair ranks #14,059 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lead vs leg
Shared letters: el. Private to "lead": ad. Private to "leg": g.
"lead" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "leg" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lead ← elad · laed · leadd · leda · llead
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lead" and "leg" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lead" or "leg"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lead" and "leg" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lead" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leg" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,059 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lead" and "leg" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leg vs Lied". 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 #14,059 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.