Which to use
“last” is an adjective and “lay” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,138
- “last” frequency rank
- #35,585
- “lay” frequency rank
- 50723
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | last | lay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Último. | Composición poética medieval de los provenzales y de los franceses, destinada a relatar una leyenda o historia de amores, generalmente en versos cortos. |
Where the eye mixes last and lay
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses last with lay
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: last is /lɑːst/ while lay is [ˈlaj]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50723, 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/. lay is at rank #35,585, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaj].
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 50723, this pair ranks #101,684 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of last vs lay
Shared letters: al. Private to "last": st. Private to "lay": y.
"last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lay" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- last ← alst · lasst · lastt · lats · llast · lsat
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "last" and "lay" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "last" or "lay" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "last" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #101,684 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "last" and "lay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lay". 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 #101,684 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.