laca vs lança, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#48,502
“laca” frequency rank: #2,380
“lança” frequency rank: 50882
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	laca	lança
Definition	resina ou goma resinosa obtida de certas árvores no Oriente	uma arma longa para ser arremessada, que consiste de uma haste de madeira à qual é ligada uma ponta de metal

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

laca

5 ch

lança

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. laca (/ˈla.kɐ/) and lança (/ˈlɐ̃.sɐ/) 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 50882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laca is recorded at frequency rank #48,502, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.kɐ/. lança is at rank #2,380, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɐ̃.sɐ/.

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 50882, this pair ranks #14,074 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laca vs lança

Shared letters: al. Private to "laca": c. Private to "lança": nç.

"laca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lança" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

laca ← alca · laac · lacca · lcaa · llaca

Frequency comparison

laca#48,502

lança#2,380

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laca" and "lança" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈla.kɐ/ versus /ˈlɐ̃.sɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "laca" or "lança"?

"lança" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,380 in our Portuguese list, against #48,502 for "laca". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering laca vs lança

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 “laca” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable