lanchavslaunchConfusable pair

Quick tell: lancha is a adjective, launch is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lancha” is an adjective and “launch” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,369
“lancha” frequency rank
#42,531
“launch” frequency rank
64900
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lancha launch
Definition que é natural da capital da Região Autónoma da Madeira, a cidade do Funchal lançamento, arremesso

Where the eye mixes lancha and launch

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
lancha
6 ch
launch

Visual trap between lancha and launch

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lancha is /ˈɫɐ̃.ʃɐ/ while launch is /lɔnt͡ʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lancha is recorded at frequency rank #22,369, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɫɐ̃.ʃɐ/. launch is at rank #42,531, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɔnt͡ʃ/.

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 64900, this pair ranks #5,590 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lancha vs launch

Shared letters: achln. Private to "lancha": -. Private to "launch": u.

"lancha" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "launch" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lanchaalncha · lacnha · lancah · lanccha · lanchha · lanhca · lanncha · llancha
  • launchalunch · lanuch · laucnh · launcch · launchh · launhc · launnch · llaunch

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lancha" for "launch" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lancha" is an adjective and "launch" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lancha" or "launch"?
"lancha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,369 in our Portuguese list, against #42,531 for "launch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lancha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "launch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #5,590 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lancha" and "launch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs lancha". 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 #5,590 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