notingvsnotionWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: noting is a verb, notion is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set noting and notion apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
noting
6 ch
notion

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • notingnnoting · noitng · notign · notingg · notinng · notnig · notting · ntoing
  • notionnnotion · noiton · nosion · notino · notionn · notoin · nottion · ntoion

Frequency comparison

noting#7,160
notion#5,441

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "noting" and "notion" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "noting" is a verb and "notion" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "noting" or "notion"?
"notion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,441 in our English list, against #7,160 for "noting". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering noting vs notion

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “noting”; for a noun, it's “notion”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “noting” 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