Which to use
“lac” is a noun and “lau” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,497
- “lac” frequency rank
- #25,334
- “lau” frequency rank
- 73831
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lac | lau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lago. | Cuatro. |
Where the eye mixes lac and lau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lac (CVC) and lau (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between lac and lau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lac is [lak] while lau is /law/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “lac” becomes u in “lau”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73831, 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]. lau is at rank #25,334, tagged as anum, pronounced /law/.
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 73831, this pair ranks #22,511 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lac vs lau
Shared letters: al. Private to "lac": c. Private to "lau": u.
"lac" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lac" for "lau" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "lac" or "lau" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lac" and "lau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,511 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lac" and "lau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lapa". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #22,511 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.