par contre
\paʁ kɔ̃tʁ\
The verdict
“par contre” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - En revanche.
Corpus desk
Index FR-par-contre · par contre · French
par contre · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | par contre |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \paʁ kɔ̃tʁ\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « par contre » en français
Rare enough to double-check
par contre is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \paʁ kɔ̃tʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for par contre, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is par contre, spelled P-A-R- -C-O-N-T-R-E.
Definition
- 1En revanche.
- 2Au contraire.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how par contre appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
On parlait bas avec des mines contristées, apitoyées, des yeux mi-clos et alanguis, mais par contre on buvait sec, car, en ces douloureuses circonstances, il convenait de se soutenir, […].
Les bruts et les fuel-oils lourds, par contre, ne s’évaporent que plus lentement ou même quasiment pas dans certains cas.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.