cartevscharterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“carte” and “charter” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,688
“carte” frequency rank
#40,460
“charter” frequency rank
76148
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature carte charter
Definition Zettel, Karton der Charterflug (vol charter); das Charterflugzeug (avion charter)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set carte and charter apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
carte
7 ch
charter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. carte ([kaʁt]) and charter ([ʃaʁ.tɛʁ]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

carte is recorded at frequency rank #35,688, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaʁt]. charter is at rank #40,460, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃaʁ.tɛʁ].

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 76148, this pair ranks #290,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of carte vs charter

Shared letters: acert. Private to "carte": -. Private to "charter": h.

"carte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "charter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • carteacrte · caret · carrte · cartte · catre · ccarte · crate
  • chartercahrter · ccharter · charetr · charrter · charterr · chartre · chartter · chatrer

Frequency comparison

carte#35,688
charter#40,460

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "carte" and "charter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaʁt] versus [ʃaʁ.tɛʁ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "carte" or "charter"?
"carte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,688 in our German list, against #40,460 for "charter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering carte vs charter

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 “carte” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list