levevslikeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leve is a adjective, like is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#1,245
“leve” frequency rank
#2,734
“like” frequency rank
3979
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leve like
Definition que tem pouco peso como, feito

Where the eye mixes leve and like

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

4 ch
leve
4 ch
like

Look-alike desk: leve vs like

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leve is /ˈlɛ.vɨ/ while like is /laɪk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3979, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leve is recorded at frequency rank #1,245, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɛ.vɨ/. like is at rank #2,734, tagged as anadv, pronounced /laɪk/.

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 3979, this pair ranks #71,074 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leve vs like

Shared letters: el. Private to "leve": v. Private to "like": ik.

"leve" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "like" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leveelve · leev · levve · lleve · lvee
  • likeilke · liek · likke · lkie · llike

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "leve" and "like" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leve" is an adjective and "like" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "leve" vs "like" - which ranks higher?
"leve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,245 in our Portuguese list, against #2,734 for "like". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leve" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "like" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,074 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leve" and "like" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leben vs leve". 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 #71,074 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