Which to use
“lança” and “lançait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,986
- “lança” frequency rank
- #22,918
- “lançait” frequency rank
- 40904
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lança | lançait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de lancer. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de lancer. |
Where the eye mixes lança and lançait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lança runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against lançait's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses lança with lançait
A purely visual mix-up. lança (\lɑ̃.sa\) and lançait (\lɑ̃.sɛ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “lança” sits inside “lançait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40904, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lança is recorded at frequency rank #17,986, classified as averb, pronounced \lɑ̃.sa\. lançait is at rank #22,918, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɑ̃.sɛ\.
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 40904, this pair ranks #237,025 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lança vs lançait
Shared letters: alnç. Private to "lança": -. Private to "lançait": it.
"lança" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "lançait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lança" and "lançait" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lança" or "lançait"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lança" and "lançait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lança" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lançait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,025 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lança" and "lançait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lançait vs lavait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #237,025 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.