len vs leve, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“len” is an adverb and “leve” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,622
“len” frequency rank: #1,245
“leve” frequency rank: 31867
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	len	leve
Definition	só, apenas, somente	que tem pouco peso

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

len

4 ch

leve

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: len is /ʎen/ while leve is /ˈlɛ.vɨ/. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

len is recorded at frequency rank #30,622, classified as anadv, pronounced /ʎen/. leve is at rank #1,245, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɛ.vɨ/.

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 31867, this pair ranks #36,099 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of len vs leve

Shared letters: el. Private to "len": n. Private to "leve": v.

"len" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "leve" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

leve ← elve · leev · levve · lleve · lvee

Frequency comparison

len#30,622

leve#1,245

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "len" and "leve" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "len" is an adverb and "leve" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "len" or "leve"?

"leve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,245 in our Portuguese list, against #30,622 for "len". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering len vs leve

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “len”; for an adjective, it's “leve”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “len” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable