Which to use
“lake” and “Last” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,319
- “lake” frequency rank
- #2,904
- “Last” frequency rank
- 13223
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lake | Last |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Stillgewässer, das vollständig von einer Landfläche umgeben ist; See | etwas, was sich durch sein Gewicht nach unten drückt oder zieht; auch Ladung, Fracht; was man trägt |
Where the eye mixes lake and Last
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lake (CVCV) and Last (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between lake and Last
A purely visual mix-up. lake ([leɪk]) 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 13223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lake is recorded at frequency rank #10,319, classified as anoun, pronounced [leɪk]. 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 13223, this pair ranks #1,959,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lake vs Last
Shared letters: al. Private to "lake": ek. Private to "Last": st.
"lake" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lake" and "Last" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lake" vs "Last" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lake" 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 #1,959,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lake" and "Last" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lake vs lame". 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 #1,959,330 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.