Which to use
“lock” is a verb and “lot” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,485
- “lock” frequency rank
- #3,017
- “lot” frequency rank
- 23502
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lock | lot |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de locken. | Portion d’un tout que l’on partage entre plusieurs personnes. Il se dit principalement en matière de succession. |
Where the eye mixes lock and lot
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lock and lot
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lock is \lɔk\ while lot is \lo\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lock is recorded at frequency rank #20,485, classified as averb, pronounced \lɔk\. lot is at rank #3,017, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lo\.
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 23502, this pair ranks #352,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lock vs lot
Shared letters: lo. Private to "lock": ck. Private to "lot": t.
"lock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lot" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lock ← lcok · llock · locck · lockk · lokc · olck
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lock" and "lot" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lock" or "lot"?
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 "lock" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #352,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lock" and "lot" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lobo vs lock". 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 #352,142 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.