Which to use
“lao” is an adjective and “les” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,079
- “lao” frequency rank
- #101
- “les” frequency rank
- 22180
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lao | les |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que pertenece o concierne a la etnia mayoritaria de Laos | Forma del dativo de ellos. Dativo del pronombre personal de tercera persona en género masculino o femenino y número plural. No admite preposición y se puede usar como sufijo: LES di; daLES. Es grave incorrección emplear en este caso para el género masculino la forma los, propia del acusativo, y en femenino tampoco debe emplearse la forma las, aunque lo hayan hecho escritores de nota. |
Where the eye mixes lao and les
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lao with les
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lao is [ˈlao] while les is [les]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22180, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lao is recorded at frequency rank #22,079, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlao]. les is at rank #101, tagged as apron, pronounced [les].
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 22180, this pair ranks #251,550 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lao vs les
Shared letters: l. Private to "lao": ao. Private to "les": es.
"lao" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "les" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lao" and "les" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lao" or "les"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lao" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "les" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #251,550 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lao" and "les" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lao". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #251,550 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.