Which to use
“last” is an adjective and “los” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #141
- “last” frequency rank
- #1,728
- “los” frequency rank
- 1869
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | last | los |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind. | A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx. |
Where the eye mixes last and los
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses last with los
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: last is /lɑːst/ while los is /lɒs/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1869, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
last is recorded at frequency rank #141, classified as anadj, pronounced /lɑːst/. los is at rank #1,728, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɒs/.
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 1869, this pair ranks #526,433 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of last vs los
Shared letters: ls. Private to "last": at. Private to "los": o.
"last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "los" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- last ← alst · lasst · lastt · lats · llast
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "last" and "los" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "last" or "los" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "last" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "los" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #526,433 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "last" and "los" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "los vs LSC". 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 #526,433 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.