capotvscapoterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: capot is a adjective, capoter is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“capot” is an adjective and “capoter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,825
“capot” frequency rank
#38,690
“capoter” frequency rank
54515
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capot capoter
Definition Ne faire aucune levée. Être renversé sens dessus dessous, en parlant d’une embarcation, d’une automobile, d’un avion.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set capot and capoter apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
capot
7 ch
capoter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: capot is \ka.po\ while capoter is \ka.pɔ.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “capot” sits inside “capoter”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capot is recorded at frequency rank #15,825, classified as anadj, pronounced \ka.po\. capoter is at rank #38,690, tagged as averb, pronounced \ka.pɔ.te\.

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 54515, this pair ranks #133,472 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of capot vs capoter

Shared letters: acopt. Private to "capot": -. Private to "capoter": er.

"capot" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "capoter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capotacpot · caopt · capott · cappot · capto · ccapot · cpaot
  • capoteracpoter · caopter · capoetr · capoterr · capotre · capotter · cappoter · captoer

Frequency comparison

capot#15,825
capoter#38,690

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "capot" and "capoter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "capot" is an adjective and "capoter" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "capot" or "capoter"?
"capot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,825 in our French list, against #38,690 for "capoter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering capot vs capoter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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