labosvslafonWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“labos” and “lafon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,778
“labos” frequency rank
#38,390
“lafon” frequency rank
65168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labos lafon
Definition Pluriel de labo. Accusatif singulier de lafo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set labos and lafon apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
labos
5 ch
lafon

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. labos (\la.bo\) and lafon (\ˈla.fon\) 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 65168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

labos is recorded at frequency rank #26,778, classified as anoun, pronounced \la.bo\. lafon is at rank #38,390, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈla.fon\.

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 65168, this pair ranks #73,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of labos vs lafon

Shared letters: alo. Private to "labos": bs. Private to "lafon": fn.

"labos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lafon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • labosalbos · labbos · laboss · labso · laobs · lbaos · llabos
  • lafonalfon · laffon · lafno · lafonn · laofn · lfaon · llafon

Frequency comparison

labos#26,778
lafon#38,390

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "labos" and "lafon" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\la.bo\ versus \ˈla.fon\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "labos" or "lafon"?
"labos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,778 in our French list, against #38,390 for "lafon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering labos vs lafon

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 “labos” 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