Which to use
“expansion” and “extension” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,036
- “expansion” frequency rank
- #3,195
- “extension” frequency rank
- 8231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | expansion | extension |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action ou état d’un corps fluide qui se dilate. | Accroissement d’étendue. |
Where the eye mixes expansion and extension
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. expansion and extension follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: expansion vs extension
A purely visual mix-up. expansion (\ɛk.spɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) and extension (\ɛk.stɑ̃.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 8231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
expansion is recorded at frequency rank #5,036, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛk.spɑ̃.sjɔ̃\. extension is at rank #3,195, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛk.stɑ̃.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 8231, this pair ranks #420,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of expansion vs extension
Shared letters: einosx. Private to "expansion": ap. Private to "extension": t.
"expansion" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC · "extension" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "expansion" and "extension" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "expansion" or "extension"?
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 "expansion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "extension" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #420,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "expansion" and "extension" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "extension vs extensive". 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 #420,725 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.