conteurvsconteursWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: conteur is a noun, conteurs is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“conteur” is a noun and “conteurs” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,152
“conteur” frequency rank
#40,195
“conteurs” frequency rank
63347
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature conteur conteurs
Definition Celui qui écrit ou raconte des contes. Masculin pluriel de conteur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set conteur and conteurs apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
conteur
8 ch
conteurs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: conteur and conteurs carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kɔ̃.tœʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “conteur” sits inside “conteurs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63347, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

conteur is recorded at frequency rank #23,152, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tœʁ\. conteurs is at rank #40,195, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tœʁ\.

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 63347, this pair ranks #82,411 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of conteur vs conteurs

Shared letters: cenortu. Private to "conteur": -. Private to "conteurs": s.

"conteur" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "conteurs" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • conteurcconteur · cnoteur · conetur · connteur · conteru · conteurr · contteur · contuer
  • conteurscconteurs · cnoteurs · coneturs · connteurs · conterus · conteurrs · conteurss · conteusr

Frequency comparison

conteur#23,152
conteurs#40,195

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "conteur" and "conteurs" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "conteur" is a noun and "conteurs" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "conteur" or "conteurs"?
"conteur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,152 in our French list, against #40,195 for "conteurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering conteur vs conteurs

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “conteur”; for an adjective, it's “conteurs”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “conteur” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list