Which to use
“lag” is a noun and “lago” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,026
- “lag” frequency rank
- #49,759
- “lago” frequency rank
- 85785
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lag | lago |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Latence, retard, décalage, lenteur de communication informatique. | Là. |
Where the eye mixes lag and lago
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lag runs 3 letters (CVC) against lago's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lag and lago
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lag is \laɡ\ while lago is \la.ɡo\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “lag” sits inside “lago”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lag is recorded at frequency rank #36,026, classified as anoun, pronounced \laɡ\. lago is at rank #49,759, tagged as anadv, pronounced \la.ɡo\.
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 85785, this pair ranks #10,757 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lag vs lago
Shared letters: agl. Private to "lag": -. Private to "lago": o.
"lag" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lago ← algo · laggo · laog · lgao · llago
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lag" for "lago" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lag" vs "lago" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lago" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #10,757 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lag" and "lago" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lago vs longo". 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 #10,757 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.