éruptionvséruptionsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,694
“éruption” frequency rank
#21,825
“éruptions” frequency rank
33519
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éruption éruptions
Definition Jaillissement de matières expulsées. Pluriel de éruption.

Same sound, different letters: éruption vs éruptions

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. éruption runs 8 letters (VCVCCVVC) against éruptions's 9 (VCVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
éruption
9 ch
éruptions

Ear matches; page differs - éruption and éruptions

This is the hard kind. éruption and éruptions are pronounced identically (\e.ʁyp.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) - “éruption” sits inside “éruptions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33519, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éruption is recorded at frequency rank #11,694, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.ʁyp.sjɔ̃\. éruptions is at rank #21,825, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.ʁyp.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 33519, this pair ranks #290,099 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of éruption vs éruptions

Shared letters: inoprtué. Private to "éruption": -. Private to "éruptions": s.

"éruption" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC  ·  "éruptions" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "éruption" for "éruptions" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\e.ʁyp.sjɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "éruption" or "éruptions"?
"éruption" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,694 in our French list, against #21,825 for "éruptions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

"éruption" and "éruptions" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "éruption" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "éruptions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #290,099 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "éruption" and "éruptions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "érections vs éruptions". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #290,099 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