comtésvscultesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“comtés” and “cultes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,441
“comtés” frequency rank
#10,480
“cultes” frequency rank
28921
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature comtés cultes
Definition Pluriel de comté. Pluriel de culte.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set comtés and cultes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
comtés
6 ch
cultes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. comtés (\kɔ̃.te\) and cultes (\kylt\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

comtés is recorded at frequency rank #18,441, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.te\. cultes is at rank #10,480, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kylt\.

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 28921, this pair ranks #319,813 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of comtés vs cultes

Shared letters: cst. Private to "comtés": moé. Private to "cultes": elu.

"comtés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "cultes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cultesccultes · clutes · culets · culltes · cultess · cultse · culttes · cutles

Frequency comparison

comtés#18,441
cultes#10,480

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "comtés" and "cultes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.te\ versus \kylt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "comtés" or "cultes"?
"cultes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,480 in our French list, against #18,441 for "comtés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering comtés vs cultes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “comtés” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list