lacavslaiaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,502
“laca” frequency rank
#37,883
“laia” frequency rank
86385
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laca laia
Definition resina ou goma resinosa obtida de certas árvores no Oriente

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set laca and laia apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
laca
4 ch
laia

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. laca (/ˈla.kɐ/) and laia (/ˈlaj.ɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - c in “laca” becomes i in “laia”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86385, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laca is recorded at frequency rank #48,502, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.kɐ/. laia is at rank #37,883, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaj.ɐ/.

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 86385, this pair ranks #585 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laca vs laia

Shared letters: al. Private to "laca": c. Private to "laia": i.

"laca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "laia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lacaalca · laac · lacca · lcaa · llaca
  • laiaalia · laai · liaa · llaia

Frequency comparison

laca#48,502
laia#37,883

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laca" and "laia" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈla.kɐ/ versus /ˈlaj.ɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "laca" or "laia"?
"laia" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,883 in our Portuguese list, against #48,502 for "laca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laca vs laia

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “laca” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list