Which to use
“centers” and “contes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,779
- “centers” frequency rank
- #6,803
- “contes” frequency rank
- 54582
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | centers | contes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de center. | Pluriel de conte. |
Where the eye mixes centers and contes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. centers runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against contes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: centers vs contes
A purely visual mix-up. centers (\ˈsɛn.ɚz\) and contes (\kɔ̃t\) 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 54582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
centers is recorded at frequency rank #47,779, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈsɛn.ɚz\. contes is at rank #6,803, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃t\.
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 54582, this pair ranks #133,070 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of centers vs contes
Shared letters: censt. Private to "centers": r. Private to "contes": o.
"centers" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "contes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "centers" for "contes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "centers" or "contes"?
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 "centers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,070 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "centers" and "contes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "centers vs convers". 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 #133,070 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.