Which to use
“last” and “late” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #141
- “last” frequency rank
- #456
- “late” frequency rank
- 597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | last | late |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind. | Near the end of a period of time. |
Where the eye mixes last and late
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: last vs late
A purely visual mix-up. last (/lɑːst/) and late (/leɪt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
last is recorded at frequency rank #141, classified as anadj, pronounced /lɑːst/. late is at rank #456, tagged as anadj, pronounced /leɪt/.
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 597, this pair ranks #529,142 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of last vs late
Shared letters: alt. Private to "last": s. Private to "late": e.
"last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "late" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "last" and "late" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "last" or "late"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "last" and "late" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "last" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "late" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #529,142 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "last" and "late" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "late vs lope". 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 #529,142 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.