SubventionvssubventionsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,469
“Subvention” frequency rank
#5,928
“subventions” frequency rank
14397
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Subvention subventions
Definition Subvention. Pluriel de subvention.

Where the eye mixes Subvention and subventions

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. Subvention runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVVC) against subventions's 11 (CVCCVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
Subvention
11 ch
subventions

Why the eye confuses Subvention with subventions

A purely visual mix-up. Subvention (\zʊpvɛnˈtsi̯oːn\) and subventions (\syb.vɑ̃.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) - “Subvention” sits inside “subventions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14397, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Subvention is recorded at frequency rank #8,469, classified as anoun, pronounced \zʊpvɛnˈtsi̯oːn\. subventions is at rank #5,928, tagged as anoun, pronounced \syb.vɑ̃.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 14397, this pair ranks #396,864 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Subvention vs subventions

Shared letters: beinostuv. Private to "Subvention": -. Private to "subventions": -.

"Subvention" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC  ·  "subventions" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Subvention ← sbuvention · ssubvention · subbvention · subevntion · subveniton · subvenntion · subventino · subventionn
  • subventions ← sbuventions · ssubventions · subbventions · subevntions · subvenitons · subvenntions · subventinos · subventionns

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Subvention" and "subventions" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\zʊpvɛnˈtsi̯oːn\ versus \syb.vɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Subvention" or "subventions"?
"subventions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,928 in our French list, against #8,469 for "Subvention". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Subvention" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "subventions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #396,864 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Subvention" and "subventions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Subvention vs subventionne". 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 #396,864 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