la vs lui, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“la” is an article and “lui” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2
“la” frequency rank: #36,659
“lui” frequency rank: 36661
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	la	lui
Definition	Artículo determinado femenino singular.	Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de luir.

Where the eye mixes la and lui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch

3 ch

lui

Look-alike desk: la vs lui

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: la is [la] while lui is [ˈlwi]. 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 (article vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

la is recorded at frequency rank #2, classified as anarticle, pronounced [la]. lui is at rank #36,659, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlwi].

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 36661, this pair ranks #179,468 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of la vs lui

Shared letters: l. Private to "la": a. Private to "lui": iu.

"la" · 2 letters · shape CV · "lui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "la" for "lui" ever safe?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "la" is an article and "lui" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "la" vs "lui" - which ranks higher?

"la" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2 in our Spanish list, against #36,659 for "lui". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "la" and "lui" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "la" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "lui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #179,468 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"la" and "lui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #179,468 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.