Which to use
“quart” and “quay” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,679
- “quart” frequency rank
- #20,746
- “quay” frequency rank
- 49425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quart | quay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A unit of liquid capacity equal to two pints; one-fourth (quarter) of a gallon. Equivalent to 1.136 liters in the UK and 0.946 liter (liquid quart) or 1.101 liters (dry quart) in the U.S. | A stone or concrete structure on navigable water used for loading and unloading vessels; a wharf. |
Where the eye mixes quart and quay
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between quart and quay
A purely visual mix-up. quart (/kwɔːt/) and quay (/kiː/) 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 49425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quart is recorded at frequency rank #28,679, classified as anoun, pronounced /kwɔːt/. quay is at rank #20,746, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kiː/.
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 49425, this pair ranks #183,735 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of quart vs quay
Shared letters: aqu. Private to "quart": rt. Private to "quay": y.
"quart" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "quay" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "quart" and "quay" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "quart" or "quay"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "quart" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #183,735 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quart" and "quay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quant vs quart". 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 #183,735 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.