coalitionvscoalitionsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,735
“coalition” frequency rank
#29,285
“coalitions” frequency rank
34020
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coalition coalitions
Definition Union ou réunion de différents partis, ligue de plusieurs puissances. Pluriel de coalition.

Same sound, different letters: coalition vs coalitions

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. coalition runs 9 letters (CVVCVCVVC) against coalitions's 10 (CVVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
coalition
10 ch
coalitions

Ear matches; page differs - coalition and coalitions

This is the hard kind. coalition and coalitions are pronounced identically (\kɔ.a.li.sjɔ̃\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “coalition” sits inside “coalitions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coalition is recorded at frequency rank #4,735, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.a.li.sjɔ̃\. coalitions is at rank #29,285, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.a.li.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 34020, this pair ranks #286,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of coalition vs coalitions

Shared letters: acilnot. Private to "coalition": -. Private to "coalitions": s.

"coalition" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCVVC  ·  "coalitions" · 10 letters · shape CVVCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coalitioncaolition · ccoalition · coailtion · coaliiton · coalitino · coalitionn · coalitoin · coalittion
  • coalitionscaolitions · ccoalitions · coailtions · coaliitons · coalitinos · coalitionns · coalitionss · coalitiosn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coalition" and "coalitions" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kɔ.a.li.sjɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "coalition" vs "coalitions" - which ranks higher?
"coalition" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,735 in our French list, against #29,285 for "coalitions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "coalition" / "coalitions". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "coalition" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coalitions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #286,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coalition" and "coalitions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coalitions vs collisions". 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 #286,693 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