Which to use
“expression” and “expressions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,260
- “expression” frequency rank
- #6,083
- “expressions” frequency rank
- 7343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | expression | expressions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Communication des idées ou des sentiments. | Pluriel de expression. |
Same sound, different letters: expression vs expressions
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - expression and expressions
This is the hard kind. expression and expressions are pronounced identically (\ɛk.spʁɛ.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) - “expression” sits inside “expressions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
expression is recorded at frequency rank #1,260, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛk.spʁɛ.sjɔ̃\. expressions is at rank #6,083, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛks.pʁɛ.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 7343, this pair ranks #423,456 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of expression vs expressions
Shared letters: einoprsx. Private to "expression": -. Private to "expressions": -.
"expression" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVVC · "expressions" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- expression ← epxression · experssion · exppression · expresion · expresison · expressino · expressionn · expressoin
- expressions ← epxressions · experssions · exppressions · expresions · expresisons · expressinos · expressionns · expressionss
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "expression" for "expressions" ever safe?
Which is more common, "expression" or "expressions"?
Useful next steps
"expression" and "expressions" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "expression" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "expressions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #423,456 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "expression" and "expressions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "expressifs vs expressions". 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 #423,456 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.