Which to use
“imitation” and “imitations” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,981
- “imitation” frequency rank
- #32,004
- “imitations” frequency rank
- 43985
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | imitation | imitations |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action d’imiter ou résultat de cette action. | Pluriel de imitation. |
Same sound, different letters: imitation vs imitations
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. imitation runs 9 letters (VCVCVCVVC) against imitations's 10 (VCVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: imitation vs imitations
This is the hard kind. imitation and imitations are pronounced identically (\i.mi.ta.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) - “imitation” sits inside “imitations”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
imitation is recorded at frequency rank #11,981, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.mi.ta.sjɔ̃\. imitations is at rank #32,004, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.mi.ta.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 43985, this pair ranks #213,914 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of imitation vs imitations
Shared letters: aimnot. Private to "imitation": -. Private to "imitations": s.
"imitation" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVVC · "imitations" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- imitation ← iimtation · imiattion · imitaiton · imitatino · imitationn · imitatoin · imitattion · imittaion
- imitations ← iimtations · imiattions · imitaitons · imitatinos · imitationns · imitationss · imitatiosn · imitatoins
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "imitation" and "imitations" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "imitation" or "imitations" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "imitation" / "imitations". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "imitation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "imitations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,914 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "imitation" and "imitations" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imitations vs irritations". 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 #213,914 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.