Which to use
“lam” is a verb and “loy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,713
- “lam” frequency rank
- #44,027
- “loy” frequency rank
- 69740
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lam | loy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe lemel/lemen/lemiñ. | Ancienne variante orthographique de loi. |
Where the eye mixes lam and loy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between lam and loy
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lam is \ˈlãmː\ while loy 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 69740, 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\. loy is at rank #44,027, 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 69740, this pair ranks #54,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lam vs loy
Shared letters: l. Private to "lam": am. Private to "loy": oy.
"lam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "loy" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lam" for "loy" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lam" or "loy"?
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 "lam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lam" and "loy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lobo vs loy". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #54,001 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.