Which to use
“continu” is an adjective and “continua” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,330
- “continu” frequency rank
- #14,890
- “continua” frequency rank
- 20220
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | continu | continua |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dont les parties ne sont pas séparées les unes des autres et tiennent les unes aux autres. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de continuer. |
Where the eye mixes continu and continua
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses continu with continua
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: continu is \kɔ̃.ti.ny\ while continua is \kɔ̃.ti.nɥa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “continu” sits inside “continua”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
continu is recorded at frequency rank #5,330, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.ti.ny\. continua is at rank #14,890, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.ti.nɥa\.
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 20220, this pair ranks #369,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of continu vs continua
Shared letters: cinotu. Private to "continu": -. Private to "continua": a.
"continu" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "continua" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "continu" and "continua" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "continu" or "continua" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "continu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "continua" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #369,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "continu" and "continua" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "continua vs continuel". 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 #369,379 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.