LagevsLastConfusable pair

Which to use

“Lage” and “Last” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#584
“Lage” frequency rank
#2,904
“Last” frequency rank
3488
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lage Last
Definition Stelle, an der etwas liegt etwas, was sich durch sein Gewicht nach unten drückt oder zieht; auch Ladung, Fracht; was man trägt

Where the eye mixes Lage and Last

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Lage (CVCV) and Last (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Lage
4 ch
Last

Look-alike desk: Lage vs Last

A purely visual mix-up. Lage ([ˈlaːɡə]) and Last ([last]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lage is recorded at frequency rank #584, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaːɡə]. Last is at rank #2,904, tagged as anoun, pronounced [last].

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 3488, this pair ranks #2,000,104 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lage vs Last

Shared letters: al. Private to "Lage": eg. Private to "Last": st.

"Lage" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lagealge · laeg · lagge · lgae · llage
  • Lastalst · lasst · lastt · lats · llast · lsat

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Lage" for "Last" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaːɡə] versus [last]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Lage" vs "Last" - which ranks higher?
"Lage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #584 in our German list, against #2,904 for "Last". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Last" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,000,104 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lage" and "Last" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lähmt vs Last". 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 #2,000,104 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