Which to use
“convention” and “conventions” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,985
- “convention” frequency rank
- #9,865
- “conventions” frequency rank
- 12850
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | convention | conventions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A meeting or gathering. | plural of convention |
Where the eye mixes convention and conventions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: convention vs conventions
A purely visual mix-up. convention (/kənˈvɛn.ʃən/) and conventions (/kənˈvɛn.ʃənz/) 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) - “convention” sits inside “conventions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12850, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
convention is recorded at frequency rank #2,985, classified as anoun, pronounced /kənˈvɛn.ʃən/. conventions is at rank #9,865, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kənˈvɛn.ʃənz/.
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 12850, this pair ranks #479,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of convention vs conventions
Shared letters: ceinotv. Private to "convention": -. Private to "conventions": s.
"convention" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC · "conventions" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- convention ← cconvention · cnovention · conevntion · connvention · conveniton · convenntion · convension · conventino
- conventions ← cconventions · cnoventions · conevntions · connventions · convenitons · convenntions · conventinos · conventionns
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "convention" for "conventions" ever safe?
Which is more common, "convention" or "conventions"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "convention" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "conventions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #479,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "convention" and "conventions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "convection vs conventions". 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 #479,205 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.