proportionvsproportionsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,522
“proportion” frequency rank
#9,062
“proportions” frequency rank
13584
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature proportion proportions
Definition Rapport et convenance des parties entre elles et avec leur tout. Pluriel de proportion.

Same sound, different letters: proportion vs proportions

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters. proportion runs 10 letters (CCVCVCCVVC) against proportions's 11 (CCVCVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
proportion
11 ch
proportions

Homophone desk: proportion vs proportions

This is the hard kind. proportion and proportions are pronounced identically (\pʁɔ.pɔʁ.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) - “proportion” sits inside “proportions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

proportion is recorded at frequency rank #4,522, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.pɔʁ.sjɔ̃\. proportions is at rank #9,062, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.pɔʁ.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 13584, this pair ranks #400,394 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of proportion vs proportions

Shared letters: inoprt. Private to "proportion": -. Private to "proportions": s.

"proportion" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVC  ·  "proportions" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • proportion ← porportion · pproportion · prooprtion · proporiton · proporrtion · proportino · proportionn · proportoin
  • proportions ← porportions · pproportions · prooprtions · proporitons · proporrtions · proportinos · proportionns · proportionss

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "proportion" and "proportions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\pʁɔ.pɔʁ.sjɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "proportion" vs "proportions" - which ranks higher?
"proportion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,522 in our French list, against #9,062 for "proportions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've separated the homophone pair "proportion" / "proportions". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "proportion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "proportions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #400,394 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "proportion" and "proportions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "proportionné vs proportions". 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 #400,394 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