lacvslanceConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#48,497
“lac” frequency rank
#13,732
“lance” frequency rank
62229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lac lance
Definition Lago. En el poema dramático y en la novela, suceso, acontecimiento, situación interesante o notable.

Where the eye mixes lac and lance

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
lac
5 ch
lance

Look-alike desk: lac vs lance

A purely visual mix-up. lac ([lak]) and lance ([ˈlãnse]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lac is recorded at frequency rank #48,497, classified as anoun, pronounced [lak]. lance is at rank #13,732, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlãnse].

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 62229, this pair ranks #52,740 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lac vs lance

Shared letters: acl. Private to "lac": -. Private to "lance": en.

"lac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lance" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lancealnce · lacne · lancce · lanec · lannce · lanse · llance · lnace

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lac" for "lance" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([lak] versus [ˈlãnse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lac" or "lance"?
"lance" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,732 in our Spanish list, against #48,497 for "lac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "lac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lance" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,740 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lac" and "lance" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lapa". 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 #52,740 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