negotiationvsnegotiationsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“negotiation” and “negotiations” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,922
“negotiation” frequency rank
#5,066
“negotiations” frequency rank
14988
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature negotiation negotiations
Definition The process of achieving agreement through discussion. plural of negotiation

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set negotiation and negotiations apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
negotiation
12 ch
negotiations

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. negotiation (/nɪˌɡəʊ.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/) and negotiations (/nɪˌɡoʊʃiˈeɪʃənz/) 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) - “negotiation” sits inside “negotiations”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

negotiation is recorded at frequency rank #9,922, classified as anoun, pronounced /nɪˌɡəʊ.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/. negotiations is at rank #5,066, tagged as anoun, pronounced /nɪˌɡoʊʃiˈeɪʃənz/.

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 14988, this pair ranks #466,723 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of negotiation vs negotiations

Shared letters: aeginot. Private to "negotiation": -. Private to "negotiations": s.

"negotiation" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVVC  ·  "negotiations" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • negotiationengotiation · neggotiation · negoitation · negotaition · negotiaiton · negotiasion · negotiatino · negotiationn
  • negotiationsengotiations · neggotiations · negoitations · negotaitions · negotiaitons · negotiatinos · negotiationns · negotiationss

Frequency comparison

negotiation#9,922
negotiations#5,066

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "negotiation" and "negotiations" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/nɪˌɡəʊ.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/ versus /nɪˌɡoʊʃiˈeɪʃənz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "negotiation" or "negotiations"?
"negotiations" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,066 in our English list, against #9,922 for "negotiation". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering negotiation vs negotiations

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “negotiation” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list