aérationvsaviationTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,861
“aération” frequency rank
#6,587
“aviation” frequency rank
28448
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aération aviation
Definition Action d’aérer ou résultat de cette action. Tout ce qui concerne l’emploi des avions.

Where the eye mixes aération and aviation

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. aération (VVCVCVVC) and aviation (VCVVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
aération
8 ch
aviation

Look-alike desk: aération vs aviation

A purely visual mix-up. aération (\a.e.ʁa.sjɔ̃\) and aviation (\a.vja.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 28448, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aération is recorded at frequency rank #21,861, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.e.ʁa.sjɔ̃\. aviation is at rank #6,587, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.vja.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 28448, this pair ranks #322,740 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aération vs aviation

Shared letters: ainot. Private to "aération": . Private to "aviation": v.

"aération" · 8 letters · shape VVCVCVVC  ·  "aviation" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aviationaivation · avaition · aviaiton · aviatino · aviationn · aviatoin · aviattion · avitaion

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aération" for "aviation" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\a.e.ʁa.sjɔ̃\ versus \a.vja.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aération" or "aviation"?
"aviation" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,587 in our French list, against #21,861 for "aération". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aération" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aviation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #322,740 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aération" and "aviation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ablation vs aération". 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 #322,740 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