Which to use
“nation” and “nations” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,758
- “nation” frequency rank
- #23,636
- “nations” frequency rank
- 27394
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nation | nations |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nation | Plural des Substantivs nation |
Letter map: nation vs nations
Shared letters muted; letters that set nation and nations apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Pair insight - nation / nations
nation and nations are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “nation” sits inside “nations”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nation is recorded at frequency rank #3,758, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. nations is at rank #23,636, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈneɪ·ʃnz].
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 27394, this pair ranks #1,802,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nation vs nations
Shared letters: ainot. Private to "nation": -. Private to "nations": s.
"nation" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "nations" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nation" and "nations" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "nation" or "nations"?
Useful next steps
You've compared "nation" and "nations". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "nation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,802,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nation" and "nations" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nations vs natives". 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 #1,802,477 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.