Which to use
“lances” and “luces” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,279
- “lances” frequency rank
- #2,893
- “luces” frequency rank
- 47172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lances | luces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de lance. | Forma del plural de luz. |
Where the eye mixes lances and luces
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lances and luces
A purely visual mix-up. lances ([ˈlãnses]) and luces ([ˈluses]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lances is recorded at frequency rank #44,279, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlãnses]. luces is at rank #2,893, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈluses].
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 47172, this pair ranks #121,560 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lances vs luces
Shared letters: cels. Private to "lances": an. Private to "luces": u.
"lances" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "luces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lances" and "luces" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "lances" or "luces" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lances" and "luces" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lances" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "luces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #121,560 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lances" and "luces" 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 #121,560 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.