contentsvscontinusTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,366
“contents” frequency rank
#30,110
“continus” frequency rank
38476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contents continus
Definition Masculin pluriel de content. Masculin pluriel de continu.

Where the eye mixes contents and continus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
contents
8 ch
continus

Look-alike desk: contents vs continus

A purely visual mix-up. contents (\kɔ̃.tɑ̃\) and continus (\kɔ̃.ti.ny\) 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 38476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contents is recorded at frequency rank #8,366, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tɑ̃\. continus is at rank #30,110, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.ti.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 38476, this pair ranks #254,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contents vs continus

Shared letters: cnost. Private to "contents": e. Private to "continus": iu.

"contents" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "continus" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contentsccontents · cnotents · conetnts · conntents · contennts · contenst · contentss · contentts
  • continusccontinus · cnotinus · conitnus · conntinus · continnus · continsu · continuss · contiuns

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contents" and "continus" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.tɑ̃\ versus \kɔ̃.ti.ny\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contents" or "continus"?
"contents" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,366 in our French list, against #30,110 for "continus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contents" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "continus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #254,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contents" and "continus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "continuel vs continus". 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 #254,988 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