lição vs lícito, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“lição” is a noun and “lícito” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,419
“lição” frequency rank: #40,231
“lícito” frequency rank: 43650
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	lição	lícito
Definition	tarefa que o professor passa ao aluno para solidificar o aprendizado	que está de acordo com a lei

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lição and lícito apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

lição

6 ch

lícito

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lição is /li.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ while lícito is /ˈli.si.tu/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43650, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lição is recorded at frequency rank #3,419, classified as anoun, pronounced /li.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. lícito is at rank #40,231, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈli.si.tu/.

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 43650, this pair ranks #21,977 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lição vs lícito

Shared letters: ilo. Private to "lição": ãç. Private to "lícito": ctí.

"lição" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "lícito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

lição#3,419

lícito#40,231

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lição" and "lícito" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "lição" or "lícito"?

"lição" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,419 in our Portuguese list, against #40,231 for "lícito". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering lição vs lícito

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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