Which to use
“communication” is a noun and “communications” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,212
- “communication” frequency rank
- #27,667
- “communications” frequency rank
- 48879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | communication | communications |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Kommunikation; Mitteilung | Plural von communication |
Where the eye mixes communication and communications
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 13 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between communication and communications
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: communication is [kɔ.my.ni.ka.sjɔ̃] while communications is [/kʌˌmjunɪˈkeɪʃəns/]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “communication” sits inside “communications”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
communication is recorded at frequency rank #21,212, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɔ.my.ni.ka.sjɔ̃]. communications is at rank #27,667, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [/kʌˌmjunɪˈkeɪʃəns/].
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 48879, this pair ranks #1,232,130 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of communication vs communications
Shared letters: acimnotu. Private to "communication": -. Private to "communications": s.
"communication" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVCVVC · "communications" · 14 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- communication ← ccommunication · cmomunication · commnuication · commuincation · communciation · communiaction · communicaiton · communicatino
- communications ← ccommunications · cmomunications · commnuications · commuincations · communciations · communiactions · communicaitons · communicatinos
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "communication" and "communications" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "communication" vs "communications" - which ranks higher?
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 "communication" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "communications" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,232,130 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #1,232,130 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.