# nation vs national

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### nation
*noun · IPA /ˈneɪʃən/ · frequency rank #1,400*
A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.

### national
*adjective · IPA /ˈnaʃ.ə.nəl/ · frequency rank #290*
Pertaining to a nation or country, especially as a whole; affecting, shared by, or existing throughout all of a nation.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/nation-vs-national