complétervscompterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,436
“compléter” frequency rank
#1,323
“compter” frequency rank
6759
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compléter compter
Definition Rendre plus complet. Déterminer (une quantité, un nombre), plus particulièrement par un dénombrement, sinon par un calcul.

Where the eye mixes compléter and compter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
compléter
7 ch
compter

Look-alike desk: compléter vs compter

A purely visual mix-up. compléter (\kɔ̃.ple.te\) and compter (\kɔ̃.te\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compléter is recorded at frequency rank #5,436, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.ple.te\. compter is at rank #1,323, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.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 6759, this pair ranks #425,319 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of compléter vs compter

Shared letters: cemoprt. Private to "compléter": . Private to "compter": -.

"compléter" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "compter" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • compterccompter · cmopter · commpter · competr · comppter · compterr · comptre · comptter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "compléter" and "compter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.ple.te\ versus \kɔ̃.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "compléter" or "compter"?
"compter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,323 in our French list, against #5,436 for "compléter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "compléter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "compter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #425,319 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compléter" and "compter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comptées vs compter". 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 #425,319 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