Which to use
“contravention” and “contraventions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,246
- “contravention” frequency rank
- #22,530
- “contraventions” frequency rank
- 41776
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contravention | contraventions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de contrevenir à une loi, à une ordonnance, à un règlement, à un décret ou à un contrat qu’on a fait. | Pluriel de contravention. |
Same sound, different letters: contravention vs contraventions
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 13 letters. contravention runs 13 letters (CVCCCVCVCCVVC) against contraventions's 14 (CVCCCVCVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - contravention / contraventions
This is the hard kind. contravention and contraventions are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃.tʁa.vɑ̃.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) - “contravention” sits inside “contraventions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contravention is recorded at frequency rank #19,246, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁa.vɑ̃.sjɔ̃\. contraventions is at rank #22,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁa.vɑ̃.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 41776, this pair ranks #230,581 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contravention vs contraventions
Shared letters: aceinortv. Private to "contravention": -. Private to "contraventions": s.
"contravention" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCCVVC · "contraventions" · 14 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contravention ← ccontravention · cnotravention · conntravention · conrtavention · contarvention · contraevntion · contraveniton · contravenntion
- contraventions ← ccontraventions · cnotraventions · conntraventions · conrtaventions · contarventions · contraevntions · contravenitons · contravenntions
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "contravention" and "contraventions" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "contravention" or "contraventions" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "contravention" / "contraventions". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "contravention" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contraventions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,581 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contravention" and "contraventions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contraception vs contravention". 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 #230,581 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.