inondationsvsintonationsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,501
“inondations” frequency rank
#49,735
“intonations” frequency rank
59236
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inondations intonations
Definition Pluriel de inondation. Pluriel de intonation.

Where the eye mixes inondations and intonations

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. inondations (VCVCCVCVVCC) and intonations (VCCVCVCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
inondations
11 ch
intonations

Look-alike desk: inondations vs intonations

A purely visual mix-up. inondations (\i.nɔ̃.da.sjɔ̃\) and intonations (\ɛ̃.tɔ.na.sjɔ̃\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inondations is recorded at frequency rank #9,501, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.nɔ̃.da.sjɔ̃\. intonations is at rank #49,735, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɔ.na.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 59236, this pair ranks #104,290 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of inondations vs intonations

Shared letters: ainost. Private to "inondations": d. Private to "intonations": -.

"inondations" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCVVCC  ·  "intonations" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • inondations ← innodations · innondations · inodnations · inonadtions · inondaitons · inondatinos · inondationns · inondationss
  • intonations ← inntonations · inotnations · intnoations · intoantions · intonaitons · intonatinos · intonationns · intonationss

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "inondations" and "intonations" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\i.nɔ̃.da.sjɔ̃\ versus \ɛ̃.tɔ.na.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "inondations" or "intonations"?
"inondations" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,501 in our French list, against #49,735 for "intonations". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "inondations" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intonations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #104,290 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inondations" and "intonations" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intonations vs invocations". 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 #104,290 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