afianzavsalcanzaConfusable pair

Which to use

“afianza” and “alcanza” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,711
“afianza” frequency rank
#2,917
“alcanza” frequency rank
48628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature afianza alcanza
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de afianzar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alcanzar o de alcanzarse.

Where the eye mixes afianza and alcanza

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
afianza
7 ch
alcanza

Look-alike desk: afianza vs alcanza

A purely visual mix-up. afianza ([aˈfjãnsa]) and alcanza ([alˈkãnsa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

afianza is recorded at frequency rank #45,711, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈfjãnsa]. alcanza is at rank #2,917, tagged as averb, pronounced [alˈkãnsa].

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 48628, this pair ranks #113,412 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of afianza vs alcanza

Shared letters: anz. Private to "afianza": fi. Private to "alcanza": cl.

"afianza" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV  ·  "alcanza" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • afianzaafainza · affianza · afianaz · afiannza · afianzza · afiazna · afinaza · aifanza
  • alcanzaaclanza · alacnza · alcanaz · alcannza · alcanzza · alcazna · alccanza · alcnaza

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "afianza" and "alcanza" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈfjãnsa] versus [alˈkãnsa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "afianza" or "alcanza"?
"alcanza" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,917 in our Spanish list, against #45,711 for "afianza". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "afianza" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alcanza" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #113,412 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "afianza" and "alcanza" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afgana vs afianza". 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 #113,412 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list