Which to use
“provisional” is an adjective and “provisions” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,948
- “provisional” frequency rank
- #5,905
- “provisions” frequency rank
- 17853
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | provisional | provisions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Temporary, but with the intention of eventually becoming permanent or being replaced by a permanent equivalent. | plural of provision |
Where the eye mixes provisional and provisions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. provisional runs 11 letters (CCVCVCVVCVC) against provisions's 10 (CCVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: provisional vs provisions
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: provisional is /pɹəˈvɪʒənəl/ while provisions is /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ənz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
provisional is recorded at frequency rank #11,948, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɹəˈvɪʒənəl/. provisions is at rank #5,905, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ənz/.
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 17853, this pair ranks #448,727 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of provisional vs provisions
Shared letters: inoprsv. Private to "provisional": al. Private to "provisions": -.
"provisional" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVVCVC · "provisions" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- provisional ← porvisional · pprovisional · proivsional · proviisonal · provisinoal · provisioanl · provisionall · provisionla
- provisions ← porvisions · pprovisions · proivsions · proviisons · provisinos · provisionns · provisionss · provisiosn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "provisional" and "provisions" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "provisional" or "provisions" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "provisional" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "provisions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #448,727 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "provisional" and "provisions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "provisional vs provisionally". 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 #448,727 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.