Which to use
“contour” is a noun and “contourne” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,845
- “contour” frequency rank
- #28,892
- “contourne” frequency rank
- 45737
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contour | contourne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Limite externe de la surface d’un corps, surtout en parlant des objets arrondis. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de contourner. |
Where the eye mixes contour and contourne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. contour runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against contourne's 9 (CVCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between contour and contourne
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contour is \kɔ̃.tuʁ\ while contourne is \kɔ̃.tuʁn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “contour” sits inside “contourne”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contour is recorded at frequency rank #16,845, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tuʁ\. contourne is at rank #28,892, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tuʁn\.
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 45737, this pair ranks #200,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contour vs contourne
Shared letters: cnortu. Private to "contour": -. Private to "contourne": e.
"contour" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "contourne" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "contour" and "contourne" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "contour" vs "contourne" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "contour" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contourne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #200,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contour" and "contourne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cantor vs contour". 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 #200,409 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.