Which to use
“lais” is a noun and “lasse” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,862
- “lais” frequency rank
- #12,996
- “lasse” frequency rank
- 54858
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lais | lasse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Jeune baliveau de l’âge du bois, qu’on laisse quand on coupe le taillis, afin qu’il vienne en haute futaie. | Féminin singulier de las. |
Where the eye mixes lais and lasse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lais runs 4 letters (CVVC) against lasse's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lais and lasse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lais is \lɛ\ while lasse is \lɑs\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54858, 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\. lasse is at rank #12,996, tagged as anadj, pronounced \lɑs\.
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 54858, this pair ranks #131,210 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lais vs lasse
Shared letters: als. Private to "lais": i. Private to "lasse": e.
"lais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lasse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lais" for "lasse" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lais" or "lasse"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lasse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #131,210 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lais" and "lasse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lago vs lais". 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 #131,210 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.