LastvsLoseConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,904
“Last” frequency rank
#8,246
“Lose” frequency rank
11150
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Last Lose
Definition etwas, was sich durch sein Gewicht nach unten drückt oder zieht; auch Ladung, Fracht; was man trägt Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Los

Where the eye mixes Last and Lose

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Last
4 ch
Lose

Why the eye confuses Last with Lose

A purely visual mix-up. Last ([last]) and Lose ([ˈloːzə]) 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 11150, 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]. Lose is at rank #8,246, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈloːzə].

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 11150, this pair ranks #1,971,424 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Last vs Lose

Shared letters: ls. Private to "Last": at. Private to "Lose": eo.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lastalst · lasst · lastt · lats · llast · lsat
  • Losellose · loes · losse · lsoe · olse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Last" for "Lose" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([last] versus [ˈloːzə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Last" vs "Lose" - which ranks higher?
"Last" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,904 in our German list, against #8,246 for "Lose". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "Lose" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,971,424 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Last" and "Lose" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Lose". 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 #1,971,424 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