Which to use
“que” and “quote” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,084
- “que” frequency rank
- #2,963
- “quote” frequency rank
- 12047
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | que | quote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The name of the Latin script letter Q/q. Alternative form of cue. | A statement attributed to a person; a quotation. |
Where the eye mixes que and quote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses que with quote
A purely visual mix-up. que (/ˈkjuː/) and quote (/kwəʊt/) 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 12047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
que is recorded at frequency rank #9,084, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkjuː/. quote is at rank #2,963, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kwəʊt/.
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 12047, this pair ranks #483,718 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of que vs quote
Shared letters: equ. Private to "que": -. Private to "quote": ot.
"que" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "quote" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- quote ← qoute · qquote · quoet · quotte · qutoe · uqote
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "que" for "quote" ever safe?
Frequency check: "que" vs "quote" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "que" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #483,718 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "que" and "quote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Qiu vs que". 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 #483,718 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.