Which to use
“La” is an abbrev and “Lai” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #817
- “La” frequency rank
- #47,552
- “Lai” frequency rank
- 48369
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | La | Lai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lanthan | reines Instrumentalstück der mittelalterlichen französischen Musik |
Letter map: La vs Lai
Shared letters muted; letters that set La and Lai apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - La and Lai
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: La is anabbrev and Laianoun. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “La” sits inside “Lai”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
La is recorded at frequency rank #817, classified as anabbrev. Lai is at rank #47,552, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɛː].
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 48369, this pair ranks #1,251,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of La vs Lai
Shared letters: al. Private to "La": -. Private to "Lai": i.
"La" · 2 letters · shape CV · "Lai" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "La" and "Lai" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "La" or "Lai"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "La" and "Lai".
- Full dictionary entry for "La" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,251,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "La" and "Lai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lai vs lame". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,251,082 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.