impulsionvsimpulsionsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,334
“impulsion” frequency rank
#22,589
“impulsions” frequency rank
29923
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature impulsion impulsions
Definition Mouvement ou tendance à se mouvoir qu’un corps donne à un autre par le choc. Pluriel de impulsion.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set impulsion and impulsions apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
impulsion
10 ch
impulsions

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. impulsion and impulsions are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃.pyl.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) - “impulsion” sits inside “impulsions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

impulsion is recorded at frequency rank #7,334, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.pyl.sjɔ̃\. impulsions is at rank #22,589, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.pyl.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 29923, this pair ranks #313,637 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of impulsion vs impulsions

Shared letters: ilmnopsu. Private to "impulsion": -. Private to "impulsions": -.

"impulsion" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC  ·  "impulsions" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • impulsionimmpulsion · implusion · imppulsion · impulison · impullsion · impulsino · impulsionn · impulsoin
  • impulsionsimmpulsions · implusions · imppulsions · impulisons · impullsions · impulsinos · impulsionns · impulsionss

Frequency comparison

impulsion#7,334
impulsions#22,589

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "impulsion" and "impulsions" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɛ̃.pyl.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, "impulsion" or "impulsions"?
"impulsion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,334 in our French list, against #22,589 for "impulsions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering impulsion vs impulsions

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “impulsion” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list