leavevsleavesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“leave” and “leaves” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,377
“leave” frequency rank
#42,079
“leaves” frequency rank
57456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leave leaves
Definition permissão para deixar o posto folhas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leave and leaves apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
leave
6 ch
leaves

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. leave (/liːv/) and leaves (/liːvz/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “leave” sits inside “leaves”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leave is recorded at frequency rank #15,377, classified as anoun, pronounced /liːv/. leaves is at rank #42,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced /liːvz/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 57456, this pair ranks #9,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of leave vs leaves

Shared letters: aelv. Private to "leave": -. Private to "leaves": s.

"leave" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "leaves" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leaveelave · laeve · leaev · leavve · levae · lleave
  • leaveselaves · laeves · leaevs · leavess · leavse · leavves · levaes · lleaves

Frequency comparison

leave#15,377
leaves#42,079

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leave" and "leaves" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/liːv/ versus /liːvz/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "leave" or "leaves"?
"leave" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,377 in our Portuguese list, against #42,079 for "leaves". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leave vs leaves

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leave” 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