quotavsquotedWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,389
“quota” frequency rank
#5,075
“quoted” frequency rank
19464
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quota quoted
Definition A proportional part or share; the share or proportion assigned to each in a division. simple past and past participle of quote

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quota and quoted apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
quota
6 ch
quoted

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

quota and quoted form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quota is recorded at frequency rank #14,389, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkwəʊtə/. quoted is at rank #5,075, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkwəʊtɪd/.

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 19464, this pair ranks #438,002 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

quota#14,389
quoted#5,075

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quota" and "quoted" be used interchangeably?
No, "quota" and "quoted" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering quota vs quoted

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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