laisvslanaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#41,862
“lais” frequency rank
#15,421
“lana” frequency rank
57283
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lais lana
Definition Jeune baliveau de l’âge du bois, qu’on laisse quand on coupe le taillis, afin qu’il vienne en haute futaie. Faire venir quelqu'un.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
lais
4 ch
lana

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lais is \lɛ\ while lana is \la.nà\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lais is recorded at frequency rank #41,862, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛ\. lana is at rank #15,421, tagged as averb, pronounced \la.nà\.

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 57283, this pair ranks #115,993 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lais vs lana

Shared letters: al. Private to "lais": is. Private to "lana": n.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laisalis · laiss · lasi · llais
  • lanalanna · llana · lnaa

Frequency comparison

lais#41,862
lana#15,421

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lais" and "lana" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lais" is a noun and "lana" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lais" or "lana"?
"lana" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,421 in our French list, against #41,862 for "lais". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lais vs lana

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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