Lai vs Last, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#47,552
“Lai” frequency rank: #2,904
“Last” frequency rank: 50456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Lai	Last
Definition	reines Instrumentalstück der mittelalterlichen französischen Musik	etwas, was sich durch sein Gewicht nach unten drückt oder zieht; auch Ladung, Fracht; was man trägt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Lai and Last apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

Lai

4 ch

Last

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Lai ([lɛː]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lai is recorded at frequency rank #47,552, classified as anoun, pronounced [lɛː]. 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 50456, this pair ranks #1,173,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lai vs Last

Shared letters: al. Private to "Lai": i. Private to "Last": st.

"Lai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "Last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

Last ← alst · lasst · lastt · lats · llast · lsat

Frequency comparison

Lai#47,552

Last#2,904

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lai" and "Last" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([lɛː] versus [last]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "Lai" or "Last"?

"Last" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,904 in our German list, against #47,552 for "Lai". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Lai vs Last

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Lai” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable