constitutionvsconstitutionsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,810
“constitution” frequency rank
#26,677
“constitutions” frequency rank
28487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature constitution constitutions
Definition Manière dont une chose est constituée, dont ses éléments combinés forment un tout. Pluriel de constitution.

Same sound, different letters: constitution vs constitutions

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 12 letters.

12 ch
constitution
13 ch
constitutions

Same sound, different spelling - constitution / constitutions

This is the hard kind. constitution and constitutions are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃.sti.ty.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) - “constitution” sits inside “constitutions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

constitution is recorded at frequency rank #1,810, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.sti.ty.sjɔ̃\. constitutions is at rank #26,677, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃s.ti.ty.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 28487, this pair ranks #322,459 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of constitution vs constitutions

Shared letters: cinostu. Private to "constitution": -. Private to "constitutions": -.

"constitution" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVVC  ·  "constitutions" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • constitutioncconstitution · cnostitution · connstitution · consittution · consstitution · constittuion · constittution · constituiton
  • constitutionscconstitutions · cnostitutions · connstitutions · consittutions · consstitutions · constittuions · constittutions · constituitons

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "constitution" for "constitutions" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kɔ̃.sti.ty.sjɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
In ordinary French text, does "constitution" or "constitutions" show up more?
"constitution" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,810 in our French list, against #26,677 for "constitutions". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "constitution" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "constitutions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #322,459 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "constitution" and "constitutions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "constitutifs vs constitutions". 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 #322,459 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