lâchavslâcherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#44,554
“lâcha” frequency rank
#4,689
“lâcher” frequency rank
49243
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lâcha lâcher
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de lâcher. Détendre, desserrer quelque chose.

Where the eye mixes lâcha and lâcher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lâcha runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against lâcher's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
lâcha
6 ch
lâcher

Why the eye confuses lâcha with lâcher

A purely visual mix-up. lâcha (\la.ʃa\) and lâcher (\lɑ.ʃe\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49243, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lâcha is recorded at frequency rank #44,554, classified as averb, pronounced \la.ʃa\. lâcher is at rank #4,689, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɑ.ʃe\.

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 49243, this pair ranks #172,225 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lâcha vs lâcher

Shared letters: chlâ. Private to "lâcha": a. Private to "lâcher": er.

"lâcha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lâcher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lâcha" and "lâcher" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\la.ʃa\ versus \lɑ.ʃe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lâcha" or "lâcher"?
"lâcher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,689 in our French list, against #44,554 for "lâcha". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lâcha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lâcher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #172,225 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lâcha" and "lâcher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lâcha vs Lech". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #172,225 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list