Which to use
“last” is a noun and “les” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,733
- “last” frequency rank
- #7
- “les” frequency rank
- 10740
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | last | les |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Poids de deux tonneaux de mer ou 2000 kilogrammes. | Pluriel de le ou la. |
Where the eye mixes last and les
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: last vs les
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: last is \last\ while les is \le\. 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 article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
last is recorded at frequency rank #10,733, classified as anoun, pronounced \last\. les is at rank #7, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \le\.
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 10740, this pair ranks #411,821 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of last vs les
Shared letters: ls. Private to "last": at. Private to "les": e.
"last" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "les" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- last ← alst · lasst · lastt · lats · llast · lsat
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "last" and "les" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "last" or "les"?
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 "last" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "les" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #411,821 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "last" and "les" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lago vs last". 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 #411,821 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.