romanavsromanceWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: romana is a noun, romance is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“romana” is a noun and “romance” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,354
“romana” frequency rank
#6,455
“romance” frequency rank
13809
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature romana romance
Definition Especie de balanza usada para medir el peso de un objeto que se cuelga del gancho que tiene en el extremo del brazo más corto, cerca del cual está el fiel y el punto de apoyo, mientras que el otro brazo es mucho más largo y en él se encuentra grabada la escala, sobre la que se mueve el pilón, que sirve de contrapeso. Se dice de las lenguas que se desarrollaron durante la Edad Media a partir del latín hablado en varias zonas que fueron parte del imperio romano, como las actuales España, Francia, Italia, Portugal y Rumania.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set romana and romance apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
romana
7 ch
romance

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: romana is [roˈmana] while romance is [roˈmãnse]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13809, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

romana is recorded at frequency rank #7,354, classified as anoun, pronounced [roˈmana]. romance is at rank #6,455, tagged as anadj, pronounced [roˈmãnse].

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 13809, this pair ranks #286,470 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of romana vs romance

Shared letters: amnor. Private to "romana": -. Private to "romance": ce.

"romana" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "romance" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • romanaormana · rmoana · roamna · romaan · romanna · rommana · romnaa · rromana
  • romanceormance · rmoance · roamnce · romacne · romancce · romanec · romannce · romanse

Frequency comparison

romana#7,354
romance#6,455

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "romana" and "romance" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "romana" is a noun and "romance" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "romana" or "romance"?
"romance" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,455 in our Spanish list, against #7,354 for "romana". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering romana vs romance

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “romana”; for an adjective, it's “romance”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “romana” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list