Which to use
“intentions” and “inventions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,340
- “intentions” frequency rank
- #16,161
- “inventions” frequency rank
- 20501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intentions | inventions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de intention. | Pluriel de invention. |
Where the eye mixes intentions and inventions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. intentions and inventions follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses intentions with inventions
A purely visual mix-up. intentions (\ɛ̃.tɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) and inventions (\ɛ̃.vɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - t in “intentions” becomes v in “inventions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intentions is recorded at frequency rank #4,340, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.sjɔ̃\. inventions is at rank #16,161, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.vɑ̃.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 20501, this pair ranks #367,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intentions vs inventions
Shared letters: einost. Private to "intentions": -. Private to "inventions": v.
"intentions" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCC · "inventions" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- intentions ← inetntions · inntentions · intenitons · intenntions · intentinos · intentionns · intentionss · intentiosn
- inventions ← inevntions · innventions · invenitons · invenntions · inventinos · inventionns · inventionss · inventiosn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "intentions" for "inventions" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "intentions" or "inventions" show up more?
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 "intentions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "inventions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #367,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intentions" and "inventions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intentions vs intonations". 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 #367,961 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.