lancenvslanzanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#47,223
“lancen” frequency rank
#11,076
“lanzan” frequency rank
58299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lancen lanzan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de lanzar o de lanzarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de lanzar o de lanzarse.

Where the eye mixes lancen and lanzan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lancen and lanzan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
lancen
6 ch
lanzan

Visual trap between lancen and lanzan

A purely visual mix-up. lancen ([ˈlãnsẽn]) and lanzan ([ˈlãnsãn]) 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 58299, 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]. lanzan is at rank #11,076, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlãnsãn].

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 58299, this pair ranks #66,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lancen vs lanzan

Shared letters: aln. Private to "lancen": ce. Private to "lanzan": z.

"lancen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lanzan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lancen ← alncen · lacnen · lanccen · lancenn · lancne · lanecn · lanncen · lansen
  • lanzan ← alnzan · lanazn · lannzan · lanzann · lanzna · lanzzan · laznan · llanzan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lancen" for "lanzan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlãnsẽn] versus [ˈlãnsãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lancen" or "lanzan"?
"lanzan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,076 in our Spanish list, against #47,223 for "lancen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "lancen" and "lanzan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lancen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lanzan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lancen" and "lanzan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lancen 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 #66,983 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