alcanzanvsalcanzasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,214
“alcanzan” frequency rank
#48,186
“alcanzas” frequency rank
56400
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcanzan alcanzas
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alcanzar o de alcanzarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de alcanzar o de alcanzarse.

Where the eye mixes alcanzan and alcanzas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. alcanzan and alcanzas follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
alcanzan
8 ch
alcanzas

Visual trap between alcanzan and alcanzas

A purely visual mix-up. alcanzan ([alˈkãnsãn]) and alcanzas ([alˈkãnsas]) 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 - n in “alcanzan” becomes s in “alcanzas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alcanzan is recorded at frequency rank #8,214, classified as averb, pronounced [alˈkãnsãn]. alcanzas is at rank #48,186, tagged as averb, pronounced [alˈkãnsas].

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 56400, this pair ranks #74,760 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alcanzan vs alcanzas

Shared letters: aclnz. Private to "alcanzan": -. Private to "alcanzas": s.

"alcanzan" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "alcanzas" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcanzanaclanzan · alacnzan · alcanazn · alcannzan · alcanzann · alcanzna · alcanzzan · alcaznan
  • alcanzasaclanzas · alacnzas · alcanazs · alcannzas · alcanzass · alcanzsa · alcanzzas · alcaznas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alcanzan" and "alcanzas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([alˈkãnsãn] versus [alˈkãnsas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alcanzan" vs "alcanzas" - which ranks higher?
"alcanzan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,214 in our Spanish list, against #48,186 for "alcanzas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alcanzan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alcanzas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,760 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alcanzan" and "alcanzas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alcanzadas vs alcanzas". 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 #74,760 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