Which to use
“coalition” and “collation” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,735
- “coalition” frequency rank
- #25,933
- “collation” frequency rank
- 30668
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coalition | collation |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Union ou réunion de différents partis, ligue de plusieurs puissances. | Repas léger que les catholiques font les jours de jeûne pour remplacer le souper, et par extension, un repas léger pris au cours de la journée. |
Where the eye mixes coalition and collation
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. coalition (CVVCVCVVC) and collation (CVCCVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses coalition with collation
A purely visual mix-up. coalition (\kɔ.a.li.sjɔ̃\) and collation (\kɔ.la.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 30668, 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\. collation is at rank #25,933, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.la.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 30668, this pair ranks #308,746 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coalition vs collation
Shared letters: acilnot. Private to "coalition": -. Private to "collation": -.
"coalition" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCVVC · "collation" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "coalition" and "collation" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "coalition" or "collation" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "coalition" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "collation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,746 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coalition" and "collation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "collation vs cotation". 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 #308,746 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.