confiésvscontesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: confiés is a verb, contes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“confiés” is a verb and “contes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,096
“confiés” frequency rank
#6,803
“contes” frequency rank
26899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature confiés contes
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de confier. Pluriel de conte.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set confiés and contes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
confiés
6 ch
contes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: confiés is \kɔ̃.fje\ while contes is \kɔ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

confiés is recorded at frequency rank #20,096, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.fje\. 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 26899, this pair ranks #332,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of confiés vs contes

Shared letters: cnos. Private to "confiés": fié. Private to "contes": et.

"confiés" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "contes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contesccontes · cnotes · conets · conntes · contess · contse · conttes · cotnes

Frequency comparison

confiés#20,096
contes#6,803

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "confiés" and "contes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "confiés" is a verb and "contes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "confiés" or "contes"?
"contes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,803 in our French list, against #20,096 for "confiés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering confiés vs contes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “confiés”; for a noun, it's “contes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “confiés” 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