Which to use
“collection” and “collections” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,161
- “collection” frequency rank
- #5,017
- “collections” frequency rank
- 6178
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | collection | collections |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A set of items or amount of material procured, gathered or presented together. | plural of collection |
Where the eye mixes collection and collections
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. collection runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVVC) against collections's 11 (CVCCVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses collection with collections
A purely visual mix-up. collection (/kəˈlɛkʃən/) and collections (/kəˈlɛkʃənz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “collection” sits inside “collections”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
collection is recorded at frequency rank #1,161, classified as anoun, pronounced /kəˈlɛkʃən/. collections is at rank #5,017, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kəˈlɛkʃənz/.
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 6178, this pair ranks #512,421 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of collection vs collections
Shared letters: ceilnot. Private to "collection": -. Private to "collections": s.
"collection" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC · "collections" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- collection ← ccollection · clolection · colection · colelction · collcetion · collecction · colleciton · collecsion
- collections ← ccollections · clolections · colections · colelctions · collcetions · collecctions · collecitons · collectinos
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "collection" and "collections" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "collection" vs "collections" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "collection" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "collections" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #512,421 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "collection" and "collections" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "collections vs collectives". 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 #512,421 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.