Which to use
“lam” is a verb and “lut” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,713
- “lam” frequency rank
- #40,358
- “lut” frequency rank
- 66071
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lam | lut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe lemel/lemen/lemiñ. | Se dit de pâtes ou d'enduits qu'on applique sur les bouchons des vases pour en assurer la fermeture hermétique, autour des cornues, des tubes de verre pour les soustraire à l'action directe du feu, ou qu'on utilise pour obturer des trous, pour faire des joints etc. |
Where the eye mixes lam and lut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lam with lut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lam is \ˈlãmː\ while lut is \lyt\. 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 66071, 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\. lut is at rank #40,358, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lyt\.
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 66071, this pair ranks #69,465 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lam vs lut
Shared letters: l. Private to "lam": am. Private to "lut": tu.
"lam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lut" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lam" and "lut" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "lam" or "lut" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,465 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lam" and "lut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lut". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #69,465 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.