Which to use
“contracte” is an adjective and “contrat” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,539
- “contracte” frequency rank
- #919
- “contrat” frequency rank
- 31458
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contracte | contrat |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Où il y a contraction. | Convention (même non écrite) entre deux ou plusieurs personnes, plus précisément entre un ou plusieurs créanciers et un ou plusieurs débiteurs, ayant pour effet de créer entre elles une obligation (obligation conventionnelle). |
Where the eye mixes contracte and contrat
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses contracte with contrat
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contracte is \kɔ̃.tʁakt\ while contrat is \kɔ̃.tʁa\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contracte is recorded at frequency rank #30,539, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁakt\. contrat is at rank #919, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁa\.
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 31458, this pair ranks #303,643 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contracte vs contrat
Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contracte": e. Private to "contrat": -.
"contracte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV · "contrat" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contracte" for "contrat" ever safe?
Frequency check: "contracte" vs "contrat" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "contracte" and "contrat" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "contracte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contrat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,643 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contracte" and "contrat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contracte vs contrastés". 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 #303,643 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.