Which to use
“comptes” and “contes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,251
- “comptes” frequency rank
- #6,803
- “contes” frequency rank
- 8054
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | comptes | contes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de compte. | Pluriel de conte. |
Same sound, different letters: comptes vs contes
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - comptes and contes
This is the hard kind. comptes and contes are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃t\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
comptes is recorded at frequency rank #1,251, classified as anoun, 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 8054, this pair ranks #421,274 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of comptes vs contes
Shared letters: ceost. Private to "comptes": mp. Private to "contes": n.
"comptes" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "contes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "comptes" and "contes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "comptes" 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 "comptes" 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 #421,274 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "comptes" 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 #421,274 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.