compatiblevscomptableWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“compatible” and “comptable” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,289
“compatible” frequency rank
#6,482
“comptable” frequency rank
13771
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compatible comptable
Definition Qui peut exister, s’accorder avec quelqu’un ou quelque chose. Relatif à la comptabilité.

Where the eye mixes compatible and comptable

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
compatible
9 ch
comptable

Visual trap between compatible and comptable

A purely visual mix-up. compatible (\kɔ̃.pa.tibl\) and comptable (\kɔ̃.tabl\) 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 13771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compatible is recorded at frequency rank #7,289, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.pa.tibl\. comptable is at rank #6,482, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tabl\.

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 13771, this pair ranks #399,607 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of compatible vs comptable

Shared letters: abcelmopt. Private to "compatible": i. Private to "comptable": -.

"compatible" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV  ·  "comptable" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • compatibleccompatible · cmopatible · comaptible · commpatible · compaitble · compatbile · compatibble · compatibel
  • comptableccomptable · cmoptable · commptable · compatble · compptable · comptabble · comptabel · comptablle

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "compatible" for "comptable" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.pa.tibl\ versus \kɔ̃.tabl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "compatible" vs "comptable" - which ranks higher?
"comptable" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,482 in our French list, against #7,289 for "compatible". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "compatible" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "comptable" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #399,607 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compatible" and "comptable" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comptable vs constable". 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 #399,607 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list