Which to use
“position” and “positions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #709
- “position” frequency rank
- #3,030
- “positions” frequency rank
- 3739
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | position | positions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Situation dans une structure, place dans un ensemble de coordonnées ; lieu, point où une chose est placée, situation. | Pluriel de position. |
Where the eye mixes position and positions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. position runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against positions's 9 (CVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses position with positions
A purely visual mix-up. position (\po.zi.sjɔ̃\) and positions (\pɔ.zi.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 extra letter(s) - “position” sits inside “positions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
position is recorded at frequency rank #709, classified as anoun, pronounced \po.zi.sjɔ̃\. positions is at rank #3,030, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.zi.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 3739, this pair ranks #433,305 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of position vs positions
Shared letters: inopst. Private to "position": -. Private to "positions": -.
"position" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "positions" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "position" and "positions" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "position" or "positions"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "position" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "positions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,305 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "position" and "positions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "positionnés vs positions". 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 #433,305 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.