alcancevsalfaceWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“alcance” and “alface” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,608
“alcance” frequency rank
#17,420
“alface” frequency rank
20028
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcance alface
Definition a distância sobre a qual um objeto pode ser enviado ou arremessado ou pela qual um som pode ser escutado planta herbácea da família das Compostas muito utilizada em saladas; de nome científico: Lactuca sativa

Where the eye mixes alcance and alface

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alcance runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against alface's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
alcance
6 ch
alface

Why the eye confuses alcance with alface

A purely visual mix-up. alcance (/aɫ.ˈkɐ̃.sɨ/) and alface (/aɫ.ˈfa.sɨ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20028, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alcance is recorded at frequency rank #2,608, classified as anoun, pronounced /aɫ.ˈkɐ̃.sɨ/. alface is at rank #17,420, tagged as anoun, pronounced /aɫ.ˈfa.sɨ/.

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 20028, this pair ranks #50,585 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alcance vs alface

Shared letters: acel. Private to "alcance": n. Private to "alface": f.

"alcance" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "alface" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcance ← aclance · alacnce · alcacne · alcancce · alcanec · alcannce · alccance · alcnace
  • alface ← aflace · alafce · alfacce · alfaec · alfcae · alfface · allface · laface

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alcance" for "alface" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/aɫ.ˈkɐ̃.sɨ/ versus /aɫ.ˈfa.sɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alcance" vs "alface" - which ranks higher?
"alcance" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,608 in our Portuguese list, against #17,420 for "alface". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alcance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alface" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,585 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alcance" and "alface" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alce vs alface". 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 #50,585 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list