Which to use
“lâcha” and “lança” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,554
- “lâcha” frequency rank
- #17,986
- “lança” frequency rank
- 62540
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lâcha | lança |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de lâcher. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de lancer. |
Where the eye mixes lâcha and lança
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lâcha and lança follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lâcha with lança
A purely visual mix-up. lâcha (\la.ʃa\) and lança (\lɑ̃.sa\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62540, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lâcha is recorded at frequency rank #44,554, classified as averb, pronounced \la.ʃa\. lança is at rank #17,986, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɑ̃.sa\.
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 62540, this pair ranks #86,549 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lâcha vs lança
Shared letters: al. Private to "lâcha": châ. Private to "lança": nç.
"lâcha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "lança" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lâcha" for "lança" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lâcha" or "lança"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lâcha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lança" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,549 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lâcha" and "lança" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lâcha vs Lech". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #86,549 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.