partitionsvspétitionsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,932
“partitions” frequency rank
#21,131
“pétitions” frequency rank
41063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature partitions pétitions
Definition Pluriel de partition. Pluriel de pétition.

Where the eye mixes partitions and pétitions

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. partitions runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVVCC) against pétitions's 9 (CVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
partitions
9 ch
pétitions

Why the eye confuses partitions with pétitions

A purely visual mix-up. partitions (\paʁ.ti.sjɔ̃\) and pétitions (\pe.ti.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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

partitions is recorded at frequency rank #19,932, classified as anoun, pronounced \paʁ.ti.sjɔ̃\. pétitions is at rank #21,131, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pe.ti.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 41063, this pair ranks #235,801 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of partitions vs pétitions

Shared letters: inopst. Private to "partitions": ar. Private to "pétitions": é.

"partitions" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVVCC  ·  "pétitions" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • partitions ← aprtitions · parittions · parrtitions · partiitons · partitinos · partitionns · partitionss · partitiosn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "partitions" for "pétitions" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\paʁ.ti.sjɔ̃\ versus \pe.ti.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "partitions" vs "pétitions" - which ranks higher?
"partitions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,932 in our French list, against #21,131 for "pétitions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "partitions" and "pétitions" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "partitions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pétitions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #235,801 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "partitions" and "pétitions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "partitions vs parutions". 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 #235,801 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