lagovslaisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lago is a adverb, lais is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lago” is an adverb and “lais” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,759
“lago” frequency rank
#41,862
“lais” frequency rank
91621
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lago lais
Definition Là. Jeune baliveau de l’âge du bois, qu’on laisse quand on coupe le taillis, afin qu’il vienne en haute futaie.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lago and lais apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lago
4 ch
lais

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lago is \la.ɡo\ while lais is \lɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lago is recorded at frequency rank #49,759, classified as anadv, pronounced \la.ɡo\. 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 91621, this pair ranks #3,674 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lago vs lais

Shared letters: al. Private to "lago": go. Private to "lais": is.

"lago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lagoalgo · laggo · laog · lgao · llago
  • laisalis · laiss · lasi · llais

Frequency comparison

lago#49,759
lais#41,862

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lago" and "lais" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lago" is an adverb and "lais" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lago" or "lais"?
"lais" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,862 in our French list, against #49,759 for "lago". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lago vs lais

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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