lahvslulWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lah is a noun, lul is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lah” is a noun and “lul” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,894
“lah” frequency rank
#45,496
“lul” frequency rank
90390
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lah lul
Definition Alternative spelling of la. Alternative form of LOL.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lah and lul apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
lah
3 ch
lul

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lah is /lɑː/ while lul is /lʌl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90390, 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/. lul is at rank #45,496, tagged as anintj, pronounced /lʌl/.

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 90390, this pair ranks #4,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lah vs lul

Shared letters: l. Private to "lah": ah. Private to "lul": u.

"lah" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lul" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

lah#44,894
lul#45,496

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lah" and "lul" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lah" is a noun and "lul" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lah" or "lul"?
"lah" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,894 in our English list, against #45,496 for "lul". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lah vs lul

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lah”; for an intj, it's “lul”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lah” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list