Which to use
“compta” is a noun and “comptais” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,673
- “compta” frequency rank
- #17,385
- “comptais” frequency rank
- 38058
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | compta | comptais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Comptabilité, tenue des comptes, la manière, l’action de rendre et d’établir des comptes. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de compter. |
Where the eye mixes compta and comptais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between compta and comptais
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: compta is \kɔ̃.ta\ while comptais is \kɔ̃.tɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “compta” sits inside “comptais”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
compta is recorded at frequency rank #20,673, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.ta\. comptais is at rank #17,385, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tɛ\.
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 38058, this pair ranks #257,962 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of compta vs comptais
Shared letters: acmopt. Private to "compta": -. Private to "comptais": is.
"compta" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "comptais" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "compta" for "comptais" ever safe?
Frequency check: "compta" vs "comptais" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "compta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "comptais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #257,962 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "compta" and "comptais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compta vs coupa". 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 #257,962 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.