Which to use
“lampes” and “lances” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,079
- “lampes” frequency rank
- #15,925
- “lances” frequency rank
- 27004
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lampes | lances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de lampe. | Pluriel de lance. |
Where the eye mixes lampes and lances
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lampes with lances
A purely visual mix-up. lampes (\lɑ̃p\) and lances (\lɑ̃s\) 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 27004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lampes is recorded at frequency rank #11,079, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɑ̃p\. lances is at rank #15,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɑ̃s\.
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 27004, this pair ranks #331,590 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lampes vs lances
Shared letters: aels. Private to "lampes": mp. Private to "lances": cn.
"lampes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lances" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lampes" and "lances" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "lampes" or "lances" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lampes" and "lances" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lampes" 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 #331,590 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lampes" and "lances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lances vs linges". 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 #331,590 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.