Which to use
“lait” is a noun and “lam” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,043
- “lait” frequency rank
- #25,713
- “lam” frequency rank
- 27756
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lait | lam |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Liquide produit par les glandes mammaires des femelles de mammifères pendant la période de lactation qui suit la parturition, et destiné à nourrir les bébés lors de l’allaitement. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe lemel/lemen/lemiñ. |
Where the eye mixes lait and lam
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lait vs lam
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lait is \lɛ\ while lam is \ˈlãmː\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lait is recorded at frequency rank #2,043, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛ\. lam is at rank #25,713, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈlãmː\.
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 27756, this pair ranks #326,996 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lait vs lam
Shared letters: al. Private to "lait": it. Private to "lam": m.
"lait" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lam" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lait ← alit · laitt · lati · liat · llait
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lait" and "lam" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lait" or "lam"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #326,996 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lait" and "lam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lam vs lep". 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 #326,996 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.