lastsvsletsTell them apart

Which to use

“lasts” and “lets” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,309
“lasts” frequency rank
#2,952
“lets” frequency rank
11261
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lasts lets
Definition plural of last plural of let

Where the eye mixes lasts and lets

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
lasts
4 ch
lets

Visual trap between lasts and lets

A purely visual mix-up. lasts (/lɑːsts/) and lets (/lɛts/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lasts is recorded at frequency rank #8,309, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɑːsts/. lets is at rank #2,952, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɛts/.

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 11261, this pair ranks #488,006 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lasts vs lets

Shared letters: lst. Private to "lasts": a. Private to "lets": e.

"lasts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "lets" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lastsalsts · lassts · lastss · lastts · latss · llasts · lsats
  • letselts · letss · letts · llets · ltes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lasts" and "lets" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/lɑːsts/ versus /lɛts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lasts" vs "lets" - which ranks higher?
"lets" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,952 in our English list, against #8,309 for "lasts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "lasts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #488,006 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lasts" and "lets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lel vs lets". 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 #488,006 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list