lemavsletoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,042
“lema” frequency rank
#33,915
“leto” frequency rank
40957
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lema leto
Definition ideia expressa por uma frase que serve de guia ou de motivação para uma pessoa, grupo, seita, país ou nação verão:

Letter map: lema vs leto

Shared letters muted; letters that set lema and leto apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. lema and leto follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
lema
4 ch
leto

Corpus notes: lema and leto

lema and leto are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lema is recorded at frequency rank #7,042, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈle.mɐ/. leto is at rank #33,915, tagged as anoun.

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 40957, this pair ranks #25,063 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lema vs leto

Shared letters: el. Private to "lema": am. Private to "leto": ot.

"lema" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "leto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lema ← elma · leam · lemma · llema · lmea
  • leto ← elto · leot · letto · lleto · lteo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lema" and "leto" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "lema" vs "leto" - which ranks higher?
"lema" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,042 in our Portuguese list, against #33,915 for "leto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "lema" and "leto".

  • Full dictionary entry for "lema" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #25,063 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lema" and "leto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leto vs ludo". 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 #25,063 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list