Which to use
“comptent” is a verb and “conte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,739
- “comptent” frequency rank
- #4,741
- “conte” frequency rank
- 10480
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | comptent | conte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de compter. | Récit d’aventures imaginaires, soit qu’elles aient de la vraisemblance ou que s’y mêle du merveilleux, du féerique. |
Same sound, different letters: comptent vs conte
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - comptent and conte
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: comptent and conte carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kɔ̃t\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 3 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10480, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
comptent is recorded at frequency rank #5,739, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃t\. conte is at rank #4,741, 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 10480, this pair ranks #412,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of comptent vs conte
Shared letters: cenot. Private to "comptent": mp. Private to "conte": -.
"comptent" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "conte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "comptent" and "conte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "comptent" vs "conte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "comptent" / "conte". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "comptent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "conte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "comptent" and "conte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conde vs conte". 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 #412,828 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.