Which to use
“contient” is a verb and “contingent” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,115
- “contient” frequency rank
- #14,889
- “contingent” frequency rank
- 17004
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contient | contingent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de contenir. | Qui est éventuel ; qui peut arriver ou ne pas arriver. |
Where the eye mixes contient and contingent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contient runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCC) against contingent's 10 (CVCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: contient vs contingent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contient is \kɔ̃.tjɛ̃\ while contingent is \kɔ̃.tɛ̃.ʒɑ̃\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contient is recorded at frequency rank #2,115, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tjɛ̃\. contingent is at rank #14,889, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tɛ̃.ʒɑ̃\.
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 17004, this pair ranks #385,255 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of contient vs contingent
Shared letters: ceinot. Private to "contient": -. Private to "contingent": g.
"contient" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "contingent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contient ← ccontient · cnotient · conitent · conntient · conteint · contiennt · contientt · contietn
- contingent ← ccontingent · cnotingent · conitngent · conntingent · contignent · continegnt · contingennt · contingentt
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "contient" and "contingent" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "contient" or "contingent"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "contient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contingent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #385,255 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contient" and "contingent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contingent vs contingents". 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 #385,255 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.