lacvslagoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,497
“lac” frequency rank
#2,784
“lago” frequency rank
51281
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lac lago
Definition Lago. Cuerpo de agua, generalmente dulce, de tamaño considerable, que se encuentra separado del mar.

Where the eye mixes lac and lago

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lac runs 3 letters (CVC) against lago's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
lac
4 ch
lago

Why the eye confuses lac with lago

A purely visual mix-up. lac ([lak]) and lago ([ˈlaɣ̞o]) 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 51281, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lac is recorded at frequency rank #48,497, classified as anoun, pronounced [lak]. lago is at rank #2,784, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɣ̞o].

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 51281, this pair ranks #98,665 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lac vs lago

Shared letters: al. Private to "lac": c. Private to "lago": go.

"lac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lago ← laggo · laog · lgao · llago

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lac" and "lago" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([lak] versus [ˈlaɣ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lac" or "lago"?
"lago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,784 in our Spanish list, against #48,497 for "lac". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lago" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #98,665 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lac" and "lago" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lapa". 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 #98,665 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