Which to use
“last” is an adjective and “late” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,138
- “last” frequency rank
- #11,077
- “late” frequency rank
- 26215
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | last | late |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Último. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de latir. |
Where the eye mixes last and late
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: last vs late
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: last is /lɑːst/ while late is [ˈlat̪e]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
last is recorded at frequency rank #15,138, classified as anadj, pronounced /lɑːst/. late is at rank #11,077, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlat̪e].
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 26215, this pair ranks #232,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of last vs late
Shared letters: alt. Private to "last": s. Private to "late": e.
"last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "late" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "last" and "late" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "last" or "late"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "last" and "late" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "last" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "late" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #232,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "last" and "late" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs last". 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 #232,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.