labsvslagConfusable pair

Quick tell: labs is a noun, lag is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“labs” is a noun and “lag” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,163
“labs” frequency rank
#906
“lag” frequency rank
34069
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labs lag
Definition Plural des Substantivs lab 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs liegen

Letter map: labs vs lag

Shared letters muted; letters that set labs and lag apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
labs
3 ch
lag

Role in the sentence - labs and lag

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: labs is anoun and lagaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34069, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

labs is recorded at frequency rank #33,163, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. lag is at rank #906, tagged as averb, pronounced [laːk].

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 34069, this pair ranks #1,671,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of labs vs lag

Shared letters: al. Private to "labs": bs. Private to "lag": g.

"labs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lag" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • labsalbs · labbs · labss · lasb · llabs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "labs" and "lag" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "labs" is a noun and "lag" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "labs" or "lag"?
"lag" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #906 in our German list, against #33,163 for "labs". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "labs" and "lag". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "labs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lag" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,671,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "labs" and "lag" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "labs vs puzzles". 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 #1,671,708 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list