Which to use
“laque” is a noun and “lequel” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,499
- “laque” frequency rank
- #690
- “lequel” frequency rank
- 28189
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laque | lequel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gomme laque ; sorte de résine, d’un rouge jaunâtre, qui sort des branches de plusieurs espèces d’arbres famille des Anacardiaceae poussant en Asie. | Pronom relatif qui remplace le nom et établit le lien avec la proposition relative qui suit. |
Where the eye mixes laque and lequel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses laque with lequel
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: laque is \lak\ while lequel is \lə.kɛl\. 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 pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laque is recorded at frequency rank #27,499, classified as anoun, pronounced \lak\. lequel is at rank #690, tagged as apron, pronounced \lə.kɛl\.
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 28189, this pair ranks #324,369 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laque vs lequel
Shared letters: elqu. Private to "laque": a. Private to "lequel": -.
"laque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "lequel" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "laque" and "lequel" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "laque" vs "lequel" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "laque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lequel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #324,369 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laque" and "lequel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laque vs Laroque". 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 #324,369 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.