Which to use
“possession” and “possessions” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,777
- “possession” frequency rank
- #9,511
- “possessions” frequency rank
- 13288
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | possession | possessions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A control or occupancy of something for which one does not necessarily have private property rights. | plural of possession |
Where the eye mixes possession and possessions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. possession (/pəˈzɛʃn̩/) and possessions (/pəˈzɛʃənz/) 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) - “possession” sits inside “possessions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
possession is recorded at frequency rank #3,777, classified as anoun, pronounced /pəˈzɛʃn̩/. possessions is at rank #9,511, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pəˈzɛʃənz/.
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 13288, this pair ranks #476,682 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of possession vs possessions
Shared letters: einops. Private to "possession": -. Private to "possessions": -.
"possession" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC · "possessions" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- possession ← opssession · posession · posesssion · possesion · possesison · possessino · possessionn · possessoin
- possessions ← opssessions · posessions · posesssions · possesions · possesisons · possessinos · possessionns · possessionss