Which to use
“compteur” and “comptoir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,801
- “compteur” frequency rank
- #8,219
- “comptoir” frequency rank
- 16020
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | compteur | comptoir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celui qui compte. | Sorte de bureau ou de table longue et étroite sur laquelle le marchand comptait autrefois l’argent et où, maintenant, le vendeur étale la marchandise. |
Where the eye mixes compteur and comptoir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. compteur and comptoir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: compteur vs comptoir
A purely visual mix-up. compteur (\kɔ̃.tœʁ\) and comptoir (\kɔ̃.twaʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
compteur is recorded at frequency rank #7,801, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tœʁ\. comptoir is at rank #8,219, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.twaʁ\.
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 16020, this pair ranks #389,755 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of compteur vs comptoir
Shared letters: cmoprt. Private to "compteur": eu. Private to "comptoir": i.
"compteur" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC · "comptoir" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "compteur" and "comptoir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "compteur" vs "comptoir" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "compteur" and "comptoir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "compteur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "comptoir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,755 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "compteur" and "comptoir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comptées vs compteur". 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 #389,755 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.