Which to use
“carton” and “coton” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,215
- “carton” frequency rank
- #6,074
- “coton” frequency rank
- 10289
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | carton | coton |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Papier gros et raide (plus de 224 g au mètre carré), composé parfois de feuilles collées. | Fibre textile végétale, issue de la bourre composée de filaments longs, fins, soyeux, qui enveloppe les graines du cotonnier. |
Where the eye mixes carton and coton
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between carton and coton
A purely visual mix-up. carton (\kaʁ.tɔ̃\) and coton (\kɔ.tɔ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10289, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
carton is recorded at frequency rank #4,215, classified as anoun, pronounced \kaʁ.tɔ̃\. coton is at rank #6,074, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.tɔ̃\.
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 10289, this pair ranks #413,548 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of carton vs coton
Shared letters: cnot. Private to "carton": ar. Private to "coton": -.
"carton" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "coton" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "carton" for "coton" ever safe?
Which is more common, "carton" or "coton"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "carton" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coton" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,548 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "carton" and "coton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coon vs coton". 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 #413,548 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.