Which to use
“centaines” and “containers” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,262
- “centaines” frequency rank
- #33,185
- “containers” frequency rank
- 35447
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | centaines | containers |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de centaine (au sens numérique). | Pluriel de container. |
Where the eye mixes centaines and containers
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. centaines runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against containers's 10 (CVCCVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between centaines and containers
A purely visual mix-up. centaines (\sɑ̃.tɛn\) and containers (\kɔ̃.tɛ.nɛʁ\) 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 35447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
centaines is recorded at frequency rank #2,262, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃.tɛn\. containers is at rank #33,185, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tɛ.nɛʁ\.
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 35447, this pair ranks #276,708 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of centaines vs containers
Shared letters: aceinst. Private to "centaines": -. Private to "containers": or.
"centaines" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "containers" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- centaines ← ccentaines · cenatines · cenntaines · centaiens · centainess · centainnes · centainse · centanies
- containers ← ccontainers · cnotainers · conatiners · conntainers · contaienrs · containerrs · containerss · containesr
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "centaines" and "containers" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "centaines" or "containers" show up more?
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 "centaines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "containers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,708 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "centaines" and "containers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "containers vs contaminées". 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 #276,708 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.