infractionvsinfractionsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,073
“infraction” frequency rank
#9,338
“infractions” frequency rank
16411
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature infraction infractions
Definition Transgression, contravention, violation d’une loi, d’un ordre, d’un engagement, etc. Pluriel de infraction.

Same sound, different letters: infraction vs infractions

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters. infraction runs 10 letters (VCCCVCCVVC) against infractions's 11 (VCCCVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
infraction
11 ch
infractions

Same sound, different spelling - infraction / infractions

This is the hard kind. infraction and infractions are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃.fʁak.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) - “infraction” sits inside “infractions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

infraction is recorded at frequency rank #7,073, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.fʁak.sjɔ̃\. infractions is at rank #9,338, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.fʁak.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 16411, this pair ranks #387,968 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of infraction vs infractions

Shared letters: acfinort. Private to "infraction": -. Private to "infractions": s.

"infraction" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVVC  ·  "infractions" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • infraction ← ifnraction · infarction · inffraction · infracction · infraciton · infractino · infractionn · infractoin
  • infractions ← ifnractions · infarctions · inffractions · infracctions · infracitons · infractinos · infractionns · infractionss

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "infraction" and "infractions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɛ̃.fʁak.sjɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "infraction" vs "infractions" - which ranks higher?
"infraction" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,073 in our French list, against #9,338 for "infractions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've separated the homophone pair "infraction" / "infractions". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "infraction" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "infractions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #387,968 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "infraction" and "infractions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inaction vs infraction". 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 #387,968 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