lacvslasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lac is a noun, las is an article, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#48,497
“lac” frequency rank
#15
“las” frequency rank
48512
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lac las
Definition Lago. Artículo determinado femenino plural. Antecede a sustantivos femeninos en plural denotando que estos deben tomarse como información general consabida.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
lac
3 ch
las

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lac is [lak] while las is [las]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “lac” becomes s in “las”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48512, 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]. las is at rank #15, tagged as anarticle, pronounced [las].

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 48512, this pair ranks #114,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lac vs las

Shared letters: al. Private to "lac": c. Private to "las": s.

"lac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "las" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

lac#48,497
las#15

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lac" and "las" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lac" is a noun and "las" an article, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lac" or "las"?
"las" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15 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.

Remembering lac vs las

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lac”; for an article, it's “las”.
  • 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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list