Which to use
“lain” and “lay” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,154
- “lain” frequency rank
- #2,302
- “lay” frequency rank
- 36456
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lain | lay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”) | To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position. |
Where the eye mixes lain and lay
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lain vs lay
A purely visual mix-up. lain (/leɪn/) and lay (/leɪ/) 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 36456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lain is recorded at frequency rank #34,154, classified as averb, pronounced /leɪn/. lay is at rank #2,302, tagged as averb, pronounced /leɪ/.
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 36456, this pair ranks #303,080 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lain vs lay
Shared letters: al. Private to "lain": in. Private to "lay": y.
"lain" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lay" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lain ← alin · lainn · lani · llain
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lain" for "lay" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "lain" or "lay" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lain" and "lay" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,080 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lain" and "lay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lain vs lav". 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 #303,080 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.