Which to use
“labs” and “lais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,240
- “labs” frequency rank
- #41,862
- “lais” frequency rank
- 72102
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labs | lais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de lab. | Jeune baliveau de l’âge du bois, qu’on laisse quand on coupe le taillis, afin qu’il vienne en haute futaie. |
Where the eye mixes labs and lais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between labs and lais
A purely visual mix-up. labs (\læbz\) and lais (\lɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - b in “labs” becomes i in “lais”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
labs is recorded at frequency rank #30,240, classified as anoun, pronounced \læbz\. lais is at rank #41,862, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ\.
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 72102, this pair ranks #45,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of labs vs lais
Shared letters: als. Private to "labs": b. Private to "lais": i.
"labs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "labs" and "lais" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "labs" or "lais"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "labs" and "lais" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "labs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labs" and "lais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lago vs lais". 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 #45,198 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.