Which to use
“lances” and “lans” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,925
- “lances” frequency rank
- #35,119
- “lans” frequency rank
- 51044
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lances | lans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de lance. | Écart intempestif que fait un navire à droite ou à gauche de sa route ou rotation sur son mouillage. |
Where the eye mixes lances and lans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lances runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against lans's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lances and lans
A purely visual mix-up. lances (\lɑ̃s\) and lans (\lɑ̃\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51044, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lances is recorded at frequency rank #15,925, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɑ̃s\. 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 51044, this pair ranks #158,011 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lances vs lans
Shared letters: alns. Private to "lances": ce. Private to "lans": -.
"lances" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lances" and "lans" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lances" vs "lans" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lances" and "lans" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lances" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,011 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lances" and "lans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lago vs lans". 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 #158,011 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.