collectionvsconnectionTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,512
“collection” frequency rank
#19,788
“connection” frequency rank
21300
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature collection connection
Definition Réunion de plusieurs objets qui ont ensemble quelque rapport. Variante orthographique de connexion.

Where the eye mixes collection and connection

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
collection
10 ch
connection

Look-alike desk: collection vs connection

A purely visual mix-up. collection (\kɔ.lɛk.sjɔ̃\) and connection (\kɔ.nɛ.ksjɔ̃\) 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 21300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

collection is recorded at frequency rank #1,512, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.lɛk.sjɔ̃\. connection is at rank #19,788, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.nɛ.ksjɔ̃\.

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 21300, this pair ranks #363,884 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of collection vs connection

Shared letters: ceinot. Private to "collection": l. Private to "connection": -.

"collection" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC  ·  "connection" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • collectionccollection · clolection · colection · colelction · collcetion · collecction · colleciton · collectino
  • connectioncconnection · cnonection · conection · conenction · conncetion · connecction · conneciton · connectino

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "collection" for "connection" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ.lɛk.sjɔ̃\ versus \kɔ.nɛ.ksjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "collection" or "connection"?
"collection" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,512 in our French list, against #19,788 for "connection". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "collection" and "connection" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "collection" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "connection" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #363,884 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "collection" and "connection" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "connection vs convection". 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 #363,884 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