conteurvscounterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,152
“conteur” frequency rank
#35,451
“counter” frequency rank
58603
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature conteur counter
Definition Celui qui écrit ou raconte des contes. Guichet.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set conteur and counter apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
conteur
7 ch
counter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. conteur (\kɔ̃.tœʁ\) and counter (\ˈkaʊn.tə(ɹ)\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58603, 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\. counter is at rank #35,451, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈkaʊn.tə(ɹ)\.

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 58603, this pair ranks #108,093 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of conteur vs counter

Shared letters: cenortu. Private to "conteur": -. Private to "counter": -.

"conteur" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "counter" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • conteurcconteur · cnoteur · conetur · connteur · conteru · conteurr · contteur · contuer
  • counterccounter · conuter · counetr · counnter · counterr · countre · countter · coutner

Frequency comparison

conteur#23,152
counter#35,451

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "conteur" and "counter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.tœʁ\ versus \ˈkaʊn.tə(ɹ)\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "conteur" or "counter"?
"conteur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,152 in our French list, against #35,451 for "counter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering conteur vs counter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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