Which to use
“intention” is a noun and “intentional” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,095
- “intention” frequency rank
- #10,874
- “intentional” frequency rank
- 14969
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intention | intentional |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A course of action that a person intends to follow. | Intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set intention and intentional apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intention is /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/ while intentional is /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “intention” sits inside “intentional”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intention is recorded at frequency rank #4,095, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/. intentional is at rank #10,874, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/.
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 14969, this pair ranks #466,846 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intention vs intentional
Shared letters: einot. Private to "intention": -. Private to "intentional": al.
"intention" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC · "intentional" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- intention ← inetntion · inntention · inteniton · intenntion · intension · intentino · intentionn · intentoin
- intentional ← inetntional · inntentional · intenitonal · intenntional · intentinoal · intentioanl · intentionall · intentionla
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "intention" and "intentional" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "intention" or "intentional"?
Remembering intention vs intentional
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “intention”; for an adjective, it's “intentional”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “intention” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable