lavslxTell them apart

Which to use

“la” and “lx” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2
“la” frequency rank
#39,325
“lx” frequency rank
39327
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature la lx
Definition Artículo determinado femenino singular. Artículo determinado neutro singular.

Where the eye mixes la and lx

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

2 ch
la
2 ch
lx

Visual trap between la and lx

A purely visual mix-up. la ([la]) and lx ([el]) 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 a single letter - a in “la” becomes x in “lx”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

la is recorded at frequency rank #2, classified as anarticle, pronounced [la]. lx is at rank #39,325, tagged as anarticle, pronounced [el].

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 39327, this pair ranks #165,132 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of la vs lx

Shared letters: l. Private to "la": a. Private to "lx": x.

"la" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "lx" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "la" for "lx" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([la] versus [el]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "la" vs "lx" - which ranks higher?
"la" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2 in our Spanish list, against #39,325 for "lx". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "la" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lx" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #165,132 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "la" and "lx" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lx". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #165,132 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list