ladovslamConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#239
“lado” frequency rank
#23,117
“lam” frequency rank
23356
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lado lam
Definition Borde, orilla o extremo de algo. Cordero.

Where the eye mixes lado and lam

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lado
3 ch
lam

Why the eye confuses lado with lam

A purely visual mix-up. lado ([ˈlað̞o]) and lam ([lɑm]) 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 23356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lado is recorded at frequency rank #239, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlað̞o]. lam is at rank #23,117, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɑm].

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 23356, this pair ranks #246,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lado vs lam

Shared letters: al. Private to "lado": do. Private to "lam": m.

"lado" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lam" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ladoladdo · laod · ldao · llado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lado" and "lam" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlað̞o] versus [lɑm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lado" vs "lam" - which ranks higher?
"lado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #239 in our Spanish list, against #23,117 for "lam". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "lado" and "lam" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #246,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lado" and "lam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lam". 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 #246,178 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