Which to use
“lau” is an adjective and “laudo” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,230
- “lau” frequency rank
- #15,375
- “laudo” frequency rank
- 36605
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lau | laudo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | morno, tépido: | louvar |
Where the eye mixes lau and laudo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lau runs 3 letters (CVV) against laudo's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: lau vs laudo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lau is /ˈlaʊ̯/ while laudo is /ˈlau.doː/.. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “lau” sits inside “laudo”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lau is recorded at frequency rank #21,230, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlaʊ̯/. laudo is at rank #15,375, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈlau.doː/..
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 36605, this pair ranks #30,149 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lau vs laudo
Shared letters: alu. Private to "lau": -. Private to "laudo": do.
"lau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "laudo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- laudo ← aludo · laduo · lauddo · lauod · llaudo · luado
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lau" and "laudo" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lau" vs "laudo" - which ranks higher?
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 "lau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laudo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #30,149 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lau" and "laudo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs lau". 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 #30,149 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.