letvslieConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,782
“let” frequency rank
#31,038
“lie” frequency rank
37820
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature let lie
Definition obstáculo mentira

Where the eye mixes let and lie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
let
3 ch
lie

Visual trap between let and lie

A purely visual mix-up. let (/lɛt/ Áudio (EUA)^(fonte ?)) and lie (/ˈlaɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

let is recorded at frequency rank #6,782, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛt/ Áudio (EUA)^(fonte ?). lie is at rank #31,038, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaɪ/.

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 37820, this pair ranks #28,747 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of let vs lie

Shared letters: el. Private to "let": t. Private to "lie": i.

"let" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lie" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "let" and "lie" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/lɛt/ Áudio (EUA)^(fonte ?) versus /ˈlaɪ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "let" or "lie" show up more?
"let" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,782 in our Portuguese list, against #31,038 for "lie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "let" and "lie" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "let" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,747 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "let" and "lie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lie vs Lied". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #28,747 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