lançavslansWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lança is a verb, lans is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lança” is a verb and “lans” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,986
“lança” frequency rank
#35,119
“lans” frequency rank
53105
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lança lans
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de lancer. Écart intempestif que fait un navire à droite ou à gauche de sa route ou rotation sur son mouillage.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lança and lans apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
lança
4 ch
lans

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lança is \lɑ̃.sa\ while lans is \lɑ̃\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53105, 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\. lans is at rank #35,119, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɑ̃\.

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 53105, this pair ranks #143,025 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lança vs lans

Shared letters: aln. Private to "lança": ç. Private to "lans": s.

"lança" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lansalns · lanns · lanss · lasn · llans · lnas

Frequency comparison

lança#17,986
lans#35,119

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lança" and "lans" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lança" is a verb and "lans" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lança" or "lans"?
"lança" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,986 in our French list, against #35,119 for "lans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lança vs lans

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “lança”; for a noun, it's “lans”.
  • 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