alcanzanvsalianzaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: alcanzan is a verb, alianza is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“alcanzan” is a verb and “alianza” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,214
“alcanzan” frequency rank
#2,232
“alianza” frequency rank
10446
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcanzan alianza
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alcanzar o de alcanzarse. Pacto o unión entre dos o más partes que persiguen fines comunes.

Where the eye mixes alcanzan and alianza

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
alcanzan
7 ch
alianza

Visual trap between alcanzan and alianza

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alcanzan is [alˈkãnsãn] while alianza is [aˈljãnsa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10446, 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]. alianza is at rank #2,232, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈljãnsa].

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 10446, this pair ranks #298,582 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alcanzan vs alianza

Shared letters: alnz. Private to "alcanzan": c. Private to "alianza": i.

"alcanzan" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "alianza" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcanzanaclanzan · alacnzan · alcanazn · alcannzan · alcanzann · alcanzna · alcanzzan · alcaznan
  • alianzaailanza · alainza · alianaz · aliannza · alianzza · aliazna · alinaza · allianza

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alcanzan" and "alianza" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alcanzan" is a verb and "alianza" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "alcanzan" or "alianza" show up more?
"alianza" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,232 in our Spanish list, against #8,214 for "alcanzan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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 "alianza" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #298,582 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alcanzan" and "alianza" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alcanzan 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 #298,582 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