lensvslungWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,908
“lens” frequency rank
#45,426
“lung” frequency rank
93334
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lens lung
Definition Lente. Pulmón.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lens and lung apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lens
4 ch
lung

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lens (/lɛnz/) and lung (/lʌŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93334, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lens is recorded at frequency rank #47,908, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛnz/. lung is at rank #45,426, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lʌŋ/.

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 93334, this pair ranks #1,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lens vs lung

Shared letters: ln. Private to "lens": es. Private to "lung": gu.

"lens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lenselns · lenns · lenss · lesn · llens · lnes
  • lungllung · lnug · lugn · lungg · lunng · ulng

Frequency comparison

lens#47,908
lung#45,426

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lens" and "lung" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/lɛnz/ versus /lʌŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lens" or "lung"?
"lung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,426 in our Spanish list, against #47,908 for "lens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lens vs lung

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lens” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list