Which to use
“conteneurs” is a noun and “contenues” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,392
- “conteneurs” frequency rank
- #15,338
- “contenues” frequency rank
- 32730
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | conteneurs | contenues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de conteneur. | Féminin pluriel de contenu. |
Where the eye mixes conteneurs and contenues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. conteneurs runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVVCC) against contenues's 9 (CVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between conteneurs and contenues
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: conteneurs is \kɔ̃t.nœʁ\ while contenues is \kɔ̃t.ny\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
conteneurs is recorded at frequency rank #17,392, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃t.nœʁ\. contenues is at rank #15,338, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃t.ny\.
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 32730, this pair ranks #295,318 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of conteneurs vs contenues
Shared letters: cenostu. Private to "conteneurs": r. Private to "contenues": -.
"conteneurs" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVVCC · "contenues" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- conteneurs ← cconteneurs · cnoteneurs · conetneurs · connteneurs · conteenurs · contenerus · conteneurrs · conteneurss
- contenues ← ccontenues · cnotenues · conetnues · conntenues · conteneus · contennues · contenuess · contenuse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "conteneurs" for "contenues" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "conteneurs" or "contenues" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "conteneurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contenues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #295,318 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "conteneurs" and "contenues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contenues vs convenues". 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 #295,318 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.