quitvsquotaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: quit is a adjective, quota is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quit” is an adjective and “quota” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,805
“quit” frequency rank
#14,389
“quota” frequency rank
17194
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quit quota
Definition Released from obligation, penalty, etc; free, clear, or rid. A proportional part or share; the share or proportion assigned to each in a division.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
quit
5 ch
quota

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quit is /kwɪt/ while quota is /ˈkwəʊtə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quit is recorded at frequency rank #2,805, classified as anadj, pronounced /kwɪt/. quota is at rank #14,389, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkwəʊtə/.

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 17194, this pair ranks #453,021 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of quit vs quota

Shared letters: qtu. Private to "quit": i. Private to "quota": ao.

"quit" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "quota" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quitqiut · qquit · quitt · quti · uqit
  • quotaqouta · qquota · quoat · quotta · qutoa · uqota

Frequency comparison

quit#2,805
quota#14,389

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quit" and "quota" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quit" is an adjective and "quota" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quit" or "quota"?
"quit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,805 in our English list, against #14,389 for "quota". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quit vs quota

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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