Which to use
“noting” is a verb and “notion” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,160
- “noting” frequency rank
- #5,441
- “notion” frequency rank
- 12601
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | noting | notion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of note | Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept. |
Where the eye mixes noting and notion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. noting (CVCVCC) and notion (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: noting vs notion
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: noting is /ˈnoʊtɪŋ/ while notion is /ˈnəʊʃən/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
noting is recorded at frequency rank #7,160, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈnoʊtɪŋ/. notion is at rank #5,441, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈnəʊʃən/.
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 12601, this pair ranks #480,625 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of noting vs notion
Shared letters: inot. Private to "noting": g. Private to "notion": -.
"noting" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "notion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "noting" and "notion" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "noting" or "notion"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "noting" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "notion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #480,625 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "noting" and "notion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "notion vs notional". 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 #480,625 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.