positionedvspositionsConfusable pair

Quick tell: positioned is a adjective, positions is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“positioned” is an adjective and “positions” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,796
“positioned” frequency rank
#2,363
“positions” frequency rank
12159
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature positioned positions
Definition Being in a particular position; (figuratively) suitable. plural of position

Letter map: positioned vs positions

Shared letters muted; letters that set positioned and positions apart highlighted. Shared run: 8.

10 ch
positioned
9 ch
positions

Grammar separator: positioned vs positions

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: positioned is anadjective and positionsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

positioned is recorded at frequency rank #9,796, classified as anadj. positions is at rank #2,363, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pəˈzɪʃənz/.

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 12159, this pair ranks #483,118 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of positioned vs positions

Shared letters: inopst. Private to "positioned": de. Private to "positions": -.

"positioned" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC  ·  "positions" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • positionedopsitioned · poistioned · posiitoned · positinoed · positioend · positionde · positionedd · positionned
  • positionsopsitions · poistions · posiitons · positinos · positionns · positionss · positiosn · positoins

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "positioned" for "positions" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "positioned" is an adjective and "positions" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "positioned" vs "positions" - which ranks higher?
"positions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,363 in our English list, against #9,796 for "positioned". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "positioned" and "positions". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "positioned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "positions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #483,118 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "positioned" and "positions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "positions vs positron". 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 #483,118 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list