noticevsnotionWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,002
“notice” frequency rank
#2,788
“notion” frequency rank
8790
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature notice notion
Definition Exposé sommaire, recueil d’indications, instruction succincte. Connaissance élémentaire, sommaire, idée plus ou moins précise qu’on a d’une chose.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set notice and notion apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
notice
6 ch
notion

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. notice (\nɔ.tis\) and notion (\nɔ.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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

notice is recorded at frequency rank #6,002, classified as anoun, pronounced \nɔ.tis\. notion is at rank #2,788, tagged as anoun, pronounced \nɔ.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 8790, this pair ranks #418,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of notice vs notion

Shared letters: inot. Private to "notice": ce. Private to "notion": -.

"notice" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "notion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • noticennotice · noitce · notcie · noticce · notiec · nottice · ntoice · ontice
  • notionnnotion · noiton · notino · notionn · notoin · nottion · ntoion · ontion

Frequency comparison

notice#6,002
notion#2,788

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "notice" and "notion" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\nɔ.tis\ versus \nɔ.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "notice" or "notion"?
"notion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,788 in our French list, against #6,002 for "notice". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering notice vs notion

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 “notice” 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