vacationvsvocationsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,713
“vacation” frequency rank
#25,851
“vocations” frequency rank
69564
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vacation vocations
Definition Durée de travail quotidien consacrée par règlement de justice ou d’administration publique à une affaire. Pluriel de vocation.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vacation and vocations apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
vacation
9 ch
vocations

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. vacation (\va.ka.sjɔ̃\) and vocations (\vɔ.ka.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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vacation is recorded at frequency rank #43,713, classified as anoun, pronounced \va.ka.sjɔ̃\. vocations is at rank #25,851, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vɔ.ka.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 69564, this pair ranks #54,629 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vacation vs vocations

Shared letters: acinotv. Private to "vacation": -. Private to "vocations": s.

"vacation" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "vocations" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vacationavcation · vaaction · vacaiton · vacatino · vacationn · vacatoin · vacattion · vaccation
  • vocationsovcations · vcoations · voactions · vocaitons · vocatinos · vocationns · vocationss · vocatiosn

Frequency comparison

vacation#43,713
vocations#25,851

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vacation" and "vocations" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\va.ka.sjɔ̃\ versus \vɔ.ka.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vacation" or "vocations"?
"vocations" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,851 in our French list, against #43,713 for "vacation". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vacation vs vocations

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vacation” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list