Which to use
“union” and “unions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #858
- “union” frequency rank
- #20,012
- “unions” frequency rank
- 20870
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | union | unions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Opérateur de la théorie des ensembles, qui regroupe au sein d'un même ensemble les éléments de deux ensembles. Désigne également l'opération (le fait d'unir deux ensembles) ainsi que le résultat de cette opération, c'est-à-dire l'ensemble contenant tous les éléments appartenant à deux autres ensembles. | Pluriel de union. |
Same sound, different letters: union vs unions
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. union runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against unions's 6 (VCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: union vs unions
This is the hard kind. union and unions are pronounced identically (\y.njɔ̃\) 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) - “union” sits inside “unions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
union is recorded at frequency rank #858, classified as anoun, pronounced \y.njɔ̃\. unions is at rank #20,012, tagged as anoun, pronounced \y.njɔ̃\.
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 20870, this pair ranks #366,052 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of union vs unions
Shared letters: inou. Private to "union": -. Private to "unions": s.
"union" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "unions" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "union" and "unions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "union" vs "unions" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "union" / "unions". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "union" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #366,052 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "union" and "unions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "union vs Upton". 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 #366,052 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.