Which to use
“lancen” is a verb and “lances” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,223
- “lancen” frequency rank
- #44,279
- “lances” frequency rank
- 91502
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lancen | lances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de lanzar o de lanzarse. | Forma del plural de lance. |
Where the eye mixes lancen and lances
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lancen and lances follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lancen with lances
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lancen is [ˈlãnsẽn] while lances is [ˈlãnses]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “lancen” becomes s in “lances”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lancen is recorded at frequency rank #47,223, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlãnsẽn]. lances is at rank #44,279, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlãnses].
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 91502, this pair ranks #1,943 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lancen vs lances
Shared letters: aceln. Private to "lancen": -. Private to "lances": s.
"lancen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lances" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lancen" for "lances" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lancen" vs "lances" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lancen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,943 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lancen" and "lances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lanceros vs lances". 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 #1,943 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.