Which to use
“détection” and “direction” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,988
- “détection” frequency rank
- #565
- “direction” frequency rank
- 10553
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | détection | direction |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de détecter un objet, un corps ou une substance à l’aide d’un appareil. | Action de diriger, de régler l’exécution d’une action, d'administrer un établissement ou de conduire une personne. |
Where the eye mixes détection and direction
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between détection and direction
A purely visual mix-up. détection (\de.tɛk.sjɔ̃\) and direction (\di.ʁɛk.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 10553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
détection is recorded at frequency rank #9,988, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.tɛk.sjɔ̃\. direction is at rank #565, tagged as anoun, pronounced \di.ʁɛk.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 10553, this pair ranks #412,554 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of détection vs direction
Shared letters: cdeinot. Private to "détection": é. Private to "direction": r.
"détection" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "direction" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- direction ← ddirection · dierction · dircetion · direcction · direciton · directino · directionn · directoin
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "détection" and "direction" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "détection" or "direction"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "détection" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "direction" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,554 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "détection" and "direction" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défections vs détection". 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 #412,554 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.