Which to use
“la” is an article and “lb” is a symbol - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2
- “la” frequency rank
- #22,921
- “lb” frequency rank
- 22923
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | la | lb |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de le. Détermine un groupe nominal féminin singulier. | Symbole de la livre (pound), unité de mesure de masse anglo-saxonne. Cette livre est ordinairement dans le système avoir-du-poids ; il y a aussi une livre apothicaire (apothecary pound ou troy pound) — les symboles respectifs sont lb av et lb t ou lb Tr. La livre française, elle, avait pour symbole lp. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set la and lb apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
la and lb form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - a in “la” becomes b in “lb” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
la is recorded at frequency rank #2, classified as anarticle, pronounced \la\. lb is at rank #22,921, tagged as asymbol.
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 22923, this pair ranks #355,350 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "la" and "lb" be used interchangeably?
Remembering la vs lb
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an article, it's “la”; for a symbol, it's “lb”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “la” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable