lançavslançantWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lança” and “lançant” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,986
“lança” frequency rank
#15,176
“lançant” frequency rank
33162
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lança lançant
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de lancer. Participe présent du verbe lancer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
lança
7 ch
lançant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lança (\lɑ̃.sa\) and lançant (\lɑ̃.sɑ̃\) 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 “lançant”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33162, 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\. lançant is at rank #15,176, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɑ̃.sɑ̃\.

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 33162, this pair ranks #292,461 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lança vs lançant

Shared letters: alnç. Private to "lança": -. Private to "lançant": t.

"lança" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lançant" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

lança#17,986
lançant#15,176

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lança" and "lançant" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lɑ̃.sa\ versus \lɑ̃.sɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lança" or "lançant"?
"lançant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,176 in our French list, against #17,986 for "lança". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lança vs lançant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lança” 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