LavsLosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: La is a abbrev, Los is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“La” is an abbrev and “Los” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#817
“La” frequency rank
#469
“Los” frequency rank
1286
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature La Los
Definition Lanthan Schicksal, unbeeinflussbares Geschick

Letter map: La vs Los

Shared letters muted; letters that set La and Los apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

2 ch
La
3 ch
Los

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: La is anabbrev and Losanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

La is recorded at frequency rank #817, classified as anabbrev. Los is at rank #469, tagged as anoun, pronounced [loːs].

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 1286, this pair ranks #2,004,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of La vs Los

Shared letters: l. Private to "La": a. Private to "Los": os.

"La" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "Los" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "La" and "Los" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "La" is an abbrev and "Los" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "La" or "Los"?
"Los" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #469 in our German list, against #817 for "La". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "La" and "Los". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "La" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Los" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,004,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "La" and "Los" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "La vs lame". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list