Which to use
“lav” is a noun and “lay” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,859
- “lav” frequency rank
- #2,302
- “lay” frequency rank
- 51161
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lav | lay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of lavatory. | To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position. |
Where the eye mixes lav and lay
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lav is /læv/ while lay is /leɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - v in “lav” becomes y in “lay”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lav is recorded at frequency rank #48,859, classified as anoun, pronounced /læv/. lay is at rank #2,302, tagged as averb, pronounced /leɪ/.
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 51161, this pair ranks #167,866 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lav vs lay
Shared letters: al. Private to "lav": v. Private to "lay": y.
"lav" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lay" · 3 letters · shape CVV