additionsvsambitionsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“additions” and “ambitions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,687
“additions” frequency rank
#8,066
“ambitions” frequency rank
44753
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature additions ambitions
Definition Pluriel de addition. Pluriel de ambition.

Where the eye mixes additions and ambitions

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. additions and ambitions follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
additions
9 ch
ambitions

Look-alike desk: additions vs ambitions

A purely visual mix-up. additions (\a.di.sjɔ̃\) and ambitions (\ɑ̃.bi.sjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44753, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

additions is recorded at frequency rank #36,687, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.di.sjɔ̃\. ambitions is at rank #8,066, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.bi.sjɔ̃\.

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 44753, this pair ranks #208,088 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of additions vs ambitions

Shared letters: ainost. Private to "additions": d. Private to "ambitions": bm.

"additions" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVCC  ·  "ambitions" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • additionsaddiitons · additinos · additionns · additionss · additiosn · additoins · addittions · addtiions
  • ambitionsabmitions · ambbitions · ambiitons · ambitinos · ambitionns · ambitionss · ambitiosn · ambitoins

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "additions" and "ambitions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\a.di.sjɔ̃\ versus \ɑ̃.bi.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "additions" or "ambitions"?
"ambitions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,066 in our French list, against #36,687 for "additions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "additions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ambitions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #208,088 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "additions" and "ambitions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "additions vs adoptions". 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 #208,088 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list