Which to use
“précipitation” and “précipitations” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,771
- “précipitation” frequency rank
- #11,837
- “précipitations” frequency rank
- 26608
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | précipitation | précipitations |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Extrême vitesse, grande hâte. | Météores comme la pluie, la neige, ou la grêle. |
Same sound, different letters: précipitation vs précipitations
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 13 letters. précipitation runs 13 letters (CCVCVCVCVCVVC) against précipitations's 14 (CCVCVCVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - précipitation / précipitations
This is the hard kind. précipitation and précipitations are pronounced identically (\pʁe.si.pi.ta.sjɔ̃\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “précipitation” sits inside “précipitations”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
précipitation is recorded at frequency rank #14,771, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.si.pi.ta.sjɔ̃\. précipitations is at rank #11,837, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.si.pi.ta.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 26608, this pair ranks #333,932 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of précipitation vs précipitations
Shared letters: acinoprté. Private to "précipitation": -. Private to "précipitations": s.
"précipitation" · 13 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVCVVC · "précipitations" · 14 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVCVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "précipitation" and "précipitations" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "précipitation" or "précipitations"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "précipitation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "précipitations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #333,932 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
Confusion rank #333,932 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.