Which to use
“conventional” is an adjective and “conventions” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,662
- “conventional” frequency rank
- #9,865
- “conventions” frequency rank
- 14527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | conventional | conventions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pertaining to a convention, as in following generally accepted principles, methods and behaviour. | plural of convention |
Where the eye mixes conventional and conventions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: conventional vs conventions
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: conventional is /kənˈvɛnʃənl̩/ while conventions is /kənˈvɛn.ʃənz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
conventional is recorded at frequency rank #4,662, classified as anadj, pronounced /kənˈvɛnʃənl̩/. 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 14527, this pair ranks #469,485 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of conventional vs conventions
Shared letters: ceinotv. Private to "conventional": al. Private to "conventions": s.
"conventional" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCVC · "conventions" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- conventional ← cconventional · cnoventional · conevntional · connventional · convenitonal · convenntional · conventinoal · conventioanl
- conventions ← cconventions · cnoventions · conevntions · connventions · convenitons · convenntions · conventinos · conventionns
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "conventional" for "conventions" ever safe?
Which is more common, "conventional" 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 "conventional" 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 #469,485 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "conventional" 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 #469,485 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.