Which to use
“contenues” is an adjective and “continuer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,338
- “contenues” frequency rank
- #1,089
- “continuer” frequency rank
- 16427
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contenues | continuer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de contenu. | Poursuivre ce qui est commencé. |
Where the eye mixes contenues and continuer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. contenues and continuer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between contenues and continuer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contenues is \kɔ̃t.ny\ while continuer is \kɔ̃.ti.nɥe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contenues is recorded at frequency rank #15,338, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃t.ny\. continuer is at rank #1,089, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.ti.nɥe\.
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 16427, this pair ranks #387,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of contenues vs continuer
Shared letters: cenotu. Private to "contenues": s. Private to "continuer": ir.
"contenues" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC · "continuer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "contenues" and "continuer" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "contenues" or "continuer" show up more?
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 "contenues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "continuer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #387,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contenues" and "continuer" 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 #387,902 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.