lac vs lao, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“lac” is a noun and “lao” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,497
“lac” frequency rank: #22,079
“lao” frequency rank: 70576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	lac	lao
Definition	Lago.	Que pertenece o concierne a la etnia mayoritaria de Laos

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lac and lao apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

lac

3 ch

lao

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lac is [lak] while lao is [ˈlao]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “lac” becomes o in “lao”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70576, 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]. lao is at rank #22,079, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlao].

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 70576, this pair ranks #29,374 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lac vs lao

Shared letters: al. Private to "lac": c. Private to "lao": o.

"lac" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lao" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

lac#48,497

lao#22,079

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lac" and "lao" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lac" is a noun and "lao" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "lac" or "lao"?

"lao" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,079 in our Spanish list, against #48,497 for "lac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lac vs lao

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lac”; for an adjective, it's “lao”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lac” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable