Which to use
“conte” and “counter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,741
- “conte” frequency rank
- #35,451
- “counter” frequency rank
- 40192
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | conte | counter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Récit d’aventures imaginaires, soit qu’elles aient de la vraisemblance ou que s’y mêle du merveilleux, du féerique. | Guichet. |
Where the eye mixes conte and counter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses conte with counter
A purely visual mix-up. conte (\kɔ̃t\) and counter (\ˈkaʊn.tə(ɹ)\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40192, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
conte is recorded at frequency rank #4,741, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃t\. counter is at rank #35,451, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈkaʊn.tə(ɹ)\.
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 40192, this pair ranks #242,332 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of conte vs counter
Shared letters: cenot. Private to "conte": -. Private to "counter": ru.
"conte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "counter" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "conte" and "counter" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "conte" vs "counter" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "conte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "counter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #242,332 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "conte" and "counter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "count vs counter". 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 #242,332 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.