Which to use
“positions” and “punitions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,030
- “positions” frequency rank
- #25,452
- “punitions” frequency rank
- 28482
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | positions | punitions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de position. | Pluriel de punition. |
Where the eye mixes positions and punitions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. positions and punitions follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses positions with punitions
A purely visual mix-up. positions (\pɔ.zi.sjɔ̃\) and punitions (\py.ni.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 28482, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
positions is recorded at frequency rank #3,030, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.zi.sjɔ̃\. punitions is at rank #25,452, tagged as anoun, pronounced \py.ni.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 28482, this pair ranks #322,486 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of positions vs punitions
Shared letters: inopst. Private to "positions": -. Private to "punitions": u.
"positions" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC · "punitions" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "positions" for "punitions" ever safe?
Which is more common, "positions" or "punitions"?
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 "positions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "punitions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #322,486 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "positions" and "punitions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pétitions vs punitions". 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 #322,486 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.