finitionvsfunctionTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,386
“finition” frequency rank
#44,471
“function” frequency rank
57857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature finition function
Definition Action de finir. Fonction.

Where the eye mixes finition and function

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
finition
8 ch
function

Why the eye confuses finition with function

A purely visual mix-up. finition (\fi.ni.sjɔ̃\) and function (\ˈfəŋ(k).ʃən\) 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 57857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

finition is recorded at frequency rank #13,386, classified as anoun, pronounced \fi.ni.sjɔ̃\. function is at rank #44,471, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈfəŋ(k).ʃən\.

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 57857, this pair ranks #112,531 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of finition vs function

Shared letters: finot. Private to "finition": -. Private to "function": cu.

"finition" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "function" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • finitionffinition · fiintion · finiiton · finitino · finitionn · finitoin · finittion · finnition
  • functionffunction · fnuction · fucntion · funcction · funciton · functino · functionn · functoin

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "finition" and "function" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fi.ni.sjɔ̃\ versus \ˈfəŋ(k).ʃən\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "finition" or "function" show up more?
"finition" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,386 in our French list, against #44,471 for "function". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "finition" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "function" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #112,531 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "finition" and "function" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "friction vs function". 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 #112,531 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