Which to use
“contraction” and “contractions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,749
- “contraction” frequency rank
- #24,529
- “contractions” frequency rank
- 37278
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contraction | contractions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Resserrement, par opposition à dilatation. | Pluriel de contraction. |
Same sound, different letters: contraction vs contractions
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - contraction and contractions
This is the hard kind. contraction and contractions are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃.tʁak.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) - “contraction” sits inside “contractions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37278, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contraction is recorded at frequency rank #12,749, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁak.sjɔ̃\. contractions is at rank #24,529, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁak.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 37278, this pair ranks #263,606 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contraction vs contractions
Shared letters: acinort. Private to "contraction": -. Private to "contractions": s.
"contraction" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVVC · "contractions" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contraction ← ccontraction · cnotraction · conntraction · conrtaction · contarction · contracction · contraciton · contractino
- contractions ← ccontractions · cnotractions · conntractions · conrtactions · contarctions · contracctions · contracitons · contractinos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contraction" for "contractions" ever safe?
Frequency check: "contraction" vs "contractions" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "contraction" / "contractions". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "contraction" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contractions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,606 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contraction" and "contractions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contractions vs contradictions". 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 #263,606 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.