lvslaConfusable pair

Which to use

“l” and “la” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,147
“l” frequency rank
#163
“la” frequency rank
1310
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature l la
Definition o, pronome demonstrativo mesmo que a, utilizado em ênclise com verbos que terminam em -z, -r ou -s

Letter map: l vs la

Shared letters muted; letters that set l and la apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

1 ch
l
2 ch
la

Corpus notes: l and la

l and la are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “l” sits inside “la”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1310, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

l is recorded at frequency rank #1,147, classified as apron. la is at rank #163, tagged as apron.

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 1310, this pair ranks #74,276 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of l vs la

Shared letters: l. Private to "l": -. Private to "la": a.

"l" · 1 letters · shape C  ·  "la" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "l" and "la" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “l” sits inside “la”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "l" vs "la" - which ranks higher?
"la" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #163 in our Portuguese list, against #1,147 for "l". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "l" vs "la" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "l" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "la" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,276 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "l" and "la" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "la vs laca". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #74,276 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list