lançavslenhaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,380
“lança” frequency rank
#10,743
“lenha” frequency rank
13123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lança lenha
Definition uma arma longa para ser arremessada, que consiste de uma haste de madeira à qual é ligada uma ponta de metal qualquer pedaço de madeira utilizado como combustível

Where the eye mixes lança and lenha

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lança and lenha follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
lança
5 ch
lenha

Visual trap between lança and lenha

A purely visual mix-up. lança (/ˈlɐ̃.sɐ/) and lenha (/ˈlɐj.ɲɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lança is recorded at frequency rank #2,380, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɐ̃.sɐ/. lenha is at rank #10,743, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɐj.ɲɐ/.

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 13123, this pair ranks #59,325 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lança vs lenha

Shared letters: aln. Private to "lança": ç. Private to "lenha": eh.

"lança" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lenha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lenha ← elnha · lehna · lenah · lenhha · lennha · llenha · lneha

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lança" and "lenha" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlɐ̃.sɐ/ versus /ˈlɐj.ɲɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "lança" or "lenha" show up more?
"lança" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,380 in our Portuguese list, against #10,743 for "lenha". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lança" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lenha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,325 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lança" and "lenha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lengua vs lenha". 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 #59,325 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