Which to use
“left” and “leg” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,488
- “left” frequency rank
- #33,059
- “leg” frequency rank
- 44547
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | left | leg |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | esquerda | perna |
Where the eye mixes left and leg
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between left and leg
A purely visual mix-up. left (/lɛft/) and leg (/lɛɡ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
left is recorded at frequency rank #11,488, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛft/. 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 44547, this pair ranks #20,911 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of left vs leg
Shared letters: el. Private to "left": ft. Private to "leg": g.
"left" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "leg" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- left ← elft · lefft · leftt · letf · lfet · lleft
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "left" for "leg" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "left" or "leg" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "left" 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 #20,911 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "left" 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 #20,911 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.