Which to use
“comptent” is a verb and “contes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,739
- “comptent” frequency rank
- #6,803
- “contes” frequency rank
- 12542
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | comptent | contes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de compter. | Pluriel de conte. |
Same sound, different letters: comptent vs contes
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - comptent and contes
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: comptent and contes 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12542, 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\. 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 12542, this pair ranks #404,813 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of comptent vs contes
Shared letters: cenot. Private to "comptent": mp. Private to "contes": s.
"comptent" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "contes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "comptent" for "contes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "comptent" vs "contes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "comptent" 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 #404,813 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "comptent" and "contes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "congres vs contes". 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 #404,813 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.