Which to use
“last” is an adjective and “lost” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #141
- “last” frequency rank
- #400
- “lost” frequency rank
- 541
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | last | lost |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind. | simple past and past participle of lose |
Where the eye mixes last and lost
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: last is /lɑːst/ while lost is /lɒst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “last” becomes o in “lost”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 541, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
last is recorded at frequency rank #141, classified as anadj, pronounced /lɑːst/. lost is at rank #400, tagged as averb, pronounced /lɒst/.
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 541, this pair ranks #529,235 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of last vs lost
Shared letters: lst. Private to "last": a. Private to "lost": o.
"last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC