Which to use
“contract” is a noun and “contracter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,197
- “contract” frequency rank
- #19,791
- “contracter” frequency rank
- 59988
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contract | contracter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contrat. | Conclure un contrat. |
Where the eye mixes contract and contracter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: contract vs contracter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contract is [ˈkɒntrækt] while contracter is \kɔ̃.tʁak.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “contract” sits inside “contracter”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contract is recorded at frequency rank #40,197, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɒntrækt]. contracter is at rank #19,791, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁak.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 59988, this pair ranks #100,066 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of contract vs contracter
Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contract": -. Private to "contracter": e.
"contract" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "contracter" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contract ← ccontract · cnotract · conntract · conrtact · contarct · contracct · contractt · contratc
- contracter ← ccontracter · cnotracter · conntracter · conrtacter · contarcter · contraccter · contracetr · contracterr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contract" for "contracter" ever safe?
Which is more common, "contract" or "contracter"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "contract" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contracter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #100,066 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contract" and "contracter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contant vs contract". 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 #100,066 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.