Which to use
“generation” and “generations” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,601
- “generation” frequency rank
- #4,383
- “generations” frequency rank
- 5984
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | generation | generations |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of creating something or bringing something into being; production, creation. | plural of generation |
Where the eye mixes generation and generations
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: generation vs generations
A purely visual mix-up. generation (/ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/) and generations (/ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃənz/) 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) - “generation” sits inside “generations”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
generation is recorded at frequency rank #1,601, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/. generations is at rank #4,383, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃənz/.
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 5984, this pair ranks #513,257 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of generation vs generations
Shared letters: aeginort. Private to "generation": -. Private to "generations": s.
"generation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC · "generations" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- generation ← egneration · geenration · geneartion · generaiton · generasion · generatino · generationn · generatoin
- generations ← egnerations · geenrations · geneartions · generaitons · generatinos · generationns · generationss · generatiosn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "generation" and "generations" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "generation" or "generations"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "generation" and "generations" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "generation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "generations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #513,257 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "generation" and "generations" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "generation vs generative". 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 #513,257 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.