Which to use
“Last” is a noun and “lau” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,904
- “Last” frequency rank
- #16,210
- “lau” frequency rank
- 19114
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Last | lau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas, was sich durch sein Gewicht nach unten drückt oder zieht; auch Ladung, Fracht; was man trägt | von einer mittleren Temperatur zwischen kühl und warm |
Where the eye mixes Last and lau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Last and lau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Last is [last] while lau is [laʊ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Last is recorded at frequency rank #2,904, classified as anoun, pronounced [last]. lau is at rank #16,210, tagged as anadj, pronounced [laʊ̯].
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 19114, this pair ranks #1,911,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Last vs lau
Shared letters: al. Private to "Last": st. Private to "lau": u.
"Last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Last ← alst · lasst · lastt · lats · llast · lsat
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Last" and "lau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Last" vs "lau" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Last" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,911,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Last" and "lau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lau". 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 #1,911,713 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.