lakhvslarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lakh is a num, lar is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lakh” is a num and “lar” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,258
“lakh” frequency rank
#40,323
“lar” frequency rank
61581
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lakh lar
Definition One hundred thousand (10⁵): 100,000, that is, with Indian digit grouping, 1,00,000. singular of lares: a household god, particularly overseeing the family itself.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lakh and lar apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lakh
3 ch
lar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lakh is /lɑkʰ/ while lar is /lɑː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lakh is recorded at frequency rank #21,258, classified as anum, pronounced /lɑkʰ/. lar is at rank #40,323, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɑː/.

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 61581, this pair ranks #93,417 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lakh vs lar

Shared letters: al. Private to "lakh": hk. Private to "lar": r.

"lakh" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lar" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lakhalkh · lahk · lakhh · lakkh · lkah · llakh

Frequency comparison

lakh#21,258
lar#40,323

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lakh" and "lar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lakh" is a num and "lar" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lakh" or "lar"?
"lakh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,258 in our English list, against #40,323 for "lar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lakh vs lar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a num, it's “lakh”; for a noun, it's “lar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lakh” 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