Which to use
“nations” is a noun and “notons” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,745
- “nations” frequency rank
- #10,914
- “notons” frequency rank
- 12659
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nations | notons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de nation. | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de noter. |
Where the eye mixes nations and notons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. nations runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against notons's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: nations vs notons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nations is \na.sjɔ̃\ while notons is \nɔ.tɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nations is recorded at frequency rank #1,745, classified as anoun, pronounced \na.sjɔ̃\. notons is at rank #10,914, tagged as averb, pronounced \nɔ.tɔ̃\.
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 12659, this pair ranks #404,348 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nations vs notons
Shared letters: nost. Private to "nations": ai. Private to "notons": -.
"nations" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "notons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nations" for "notons" ever safe?
Which is more common, "nations" or "notons"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "nations" and "notons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "nations" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "notons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,348 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nations" and "notons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nothomb vs notons". 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 #404,348 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.