Which to use
“lain” is a verb and “lun” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,154
- “lain” frequency rank
- #43,244
- “lun” frequency rank
- 77398
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lain | lun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”) | Alternative form of lown. |
Letter map: lain vs lun
Shared letters muted; letters that set lain and lun apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. lain runs 4 letters (CVVC) against lun's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - lain and lun
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lain is averb and lunanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77398, 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/. lun is at rank #43,244, tagged as anoun.
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 77398, this pair ranks #27,400 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lain vs lun
Shared letters: ln. Private to "lain": ai. Private to "lun": u.
"lain" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lain ← alin · lainn · lani · llain
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lain" and "lun" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lain" or "lun"?
After this comparison
Pair "lain" vs "lun" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "lain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,400 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lain" and "lun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "LSC vs lun". 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 #27,400 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.