conteurvscoterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: conteur is a noun, coter is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#23,152
“conteur” frequency rank
#37,252
“coter” frequency rank
60404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature conteur coter
Definition Celui qui écrit ou raconte des contes. Marquer suivant l’ordre des lettres ou des nombres, numéroter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set conteur and coter apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
conteur
5 ch
coter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: conteur is \kɔ̃.tœʁ\ while coter is \kɔ.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60404, 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\. coter is at rank #37,252, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.te\.

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 60404, this pair ranks #97,788 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of conteur vs coter

Shared letters: ceort. Private to "conteur": nu. Private to "coter": -.

"conteur" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "coter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • conteurcconteur · cnoteur · conetur · connteur · conteru · conteurr · contteur · contuer
  • coterccoter · coetr · coterr · cotter · ctoer · octer

Frequency comparison

conteur#23,152
coter#37,252

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "conteur" and "coter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "conteur" is a noun and "coter" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "conteur" or "coter"?
"conteur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,152 in our French list, against #37,252 for "coter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering conteur vs coter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “conteur”; for a verb, it's “coter”.
  • 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