contactsvscontratsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,562
“contacts” frequency rank
#2,990
“contrats” frequency rank
7552
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contacts contrats
Definition Pluriel de contact. Pluriel de contrat.

Where the eye mixes contacts and contrats

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. contacts (CVCCVCCC) and contrats (CVCCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
contacts
8 ch
contrats

Look-alike desk: contacts vs contrats

A purely visual mix-up. contacts (\kɔ̃.takt\) and contrats (\kɔ̃.tʁa\) 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 7552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contacts is recorded at frequency rank #4,562, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.takt\. contrats is at rank #2,990, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁa\.

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 7552, this pair ranks #422,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of contacts vs contrats

Shared letters: acnost. Private to "contacts": -. Private to "contrats": r.

"contacts" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "contrats" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contacts ← ccontacts · cnotacts · conatcts · conntacts · contaccts · contacst · contactss · contactts
  • contrats ← ccontrats · cnotrats · conntrats · conrtats · contarts · contrast · contratss · contratts

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contacts" for "contrats" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.takt\ versus \kɔ̃.tʁa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contacts" or "contrats"?
"contrats" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,990 in our French list, against #4,562 for "contacts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "contacts" and "contrats" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contacts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contrats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #422,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contacts" and "contrats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contrastés vs contrats". 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 #422,825 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list