Which to use
“alcalde” and “alcance” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,434
- “alcalde” frequency rank
- #2,064
- “alcance” frequency rank
- 3498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alcalde | alcance |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Persona a cargo de la dirección administrativa o política de un municipio o ciudad. | La acción y efecto de alcanzar al que se sigue. |
Where the eye mixes alcalde and alcance
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alcalde and alcance follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: alcalde vs alcance
A purely visual mix-up. alcalde ([alˈkal̪d̪e]) and alcance ([alˈkãnse]) 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 3498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alcalde is recorded at frequency rank #1,434, classified as anoun, pronounced [alˈkal̪d̪e]. alcance is at rank #2,064, tagged as anoun, pronounced [alˈkãnse].
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 3498, this pair ranks #318,179 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alcalde vs alcance
Shared letters: acel. Private to "alcalde": d. Private to "alcance": n.
"alcalde" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "alcance" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "alcalde" and "alcance" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "alcalde" or "alcance" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "alcalde" and "alcance" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "alcalde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alcance" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #318,179 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alcalde" and "alcance" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "advance vs alcance". 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 #318,179 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.