querevsQuestWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: quere is a verb, Quest is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quere” is a verb and “Quest” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,296
“quere” frequency rank
#17,694
“Quest” frequency rank
46990
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quere Quest
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs queren in der Artusepik die Heldenreise oder Aventiure des Ritters oder Helden, in deren Verlauf er verschiedene Feinde besiegt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quere and Quest apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
quere
5 ch
Quest

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quere is [ˈkveːʁə] while Quest is [kvɛst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quere is recorded at frequency rank #29,296, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkveːʁə]. Quest is at rank #17,694, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kvɛst].

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 46990, this pair ranks #1,299,992 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quere vs Quest

Shared letters: equ. Private to "quere": r. Private to "Quest": st.

"quere" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Quest" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quereqeure · qquere · querre · quree · uqere
  • Questqeust · qquest · quesst · questt · quets · quset · uqest

Frequency comparison

quere#29,296
Quest#17,694

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quere" and "Quest" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quere" is a verb and "Quest" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quere" or "Quest"?
"Quest" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,694 in our German list, against #29,296 for "quere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quere vs Quest

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “quere”; for a noun, it's “Quest”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quere” 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