lâchavslochWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lâcha is a verb, loch is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lâcha” is a verb and “loch” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,554
“lâcha” frequency rank
#36,033
“loch” frequency rank
80587
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lâcha loch
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de lâcher. Plan d’eau, lac, fjord, estuaire, baie ou crique en Écosse ou en Irlande.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
lâcha
4 ch
loch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lâcha is \la.ʃa\ while loch is \lɔk\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80587, 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\. loch is at rank #36,033, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɔk\.

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 80587, this pair ranks #20,598 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lâcha vs loch

Shared letters: chl. Private to "lâcha": . Private to "loch": o.

"lâcha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "loch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lochlcoh · lloch · locch · lochh · lohc · olch

Frequency comparison

lâcha#44,554
loch#36,033

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lâcha" and "loch" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lâcha" is a verb and "loch" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lâcha" or "loch"?
"loch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,033 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.

Remembering lâcha vs loch

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “lâcha”; for a noun, it's “loch”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lâcha” 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