Which to use
“lam” is a verb and “loi” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,713
- “lam” frequency rank
- #300
- “loi” frequency rank
- 26013
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lam | loi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe lemel/lemen/lemiñ. | Règle, obligations écrites, prescrites ou tacites, auxquelles les personnes se doivent de se conformer. |
Where the eye mixes lam and loi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lam with loi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lam is \ˈlãmː\ while loi is \lwa\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lam is recorded at frequency rank #25,713, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈlãmː\. loi is at rank #300, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lwa\.
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 26013, this pair ranks #337,607 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lam vs loi
Shared letters: l. Private to "lam": am. Private to "loi": io.
"lam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "loi" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lam" for "loi" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lam" vs "loi" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,607 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lam" and "loi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lam vs lep". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #337,607 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.