Which to use
“lah” and “lays” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,894
- “lah” frequency rank
- #11,734
- “lays” frequency rank
- 56628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lah | lays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of la. | plural of lay |
Where the eye mixes lah and lays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lah runs 3 letters (CVC) against lays's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lah and lays
A purely visual mix-up. lah (/lɑː/) and lays (/leɪz/) 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 56628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lah is recorded at frequency rank #44,894, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɑː/. lays is at rank #11,734, tagged as anoun, pronounced /leɪz/.
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 56628, this pair ranks #124,915 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lah vs lays
Shared letters: al. Private to "lah": h. Private to "lays": sy.
"lah" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lays ← alys · lasy · layss · layys · llays · lyas
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lah" and "lays" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lah" vs "lays" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lah" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #124,915 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lah" and "lays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lah vs LSC". 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 #124,915 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.