Which to use
“contraints” is an adjective and “contrats” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,750
- “contraints” frequency rank
- #2,990
- “contrats” frequency rank
- 15740
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contraints | contrats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de contraint. | Pluriel de contrat. |
Where the eye mixes contraints and contrats
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contraints runs 10 letters (CVCCCVVCCC) against contrats's 8 (CVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between contraints and contrats
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contraints is \kɔ̃.tʁɛ̃\ while contrats 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 15740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contraints is recorded at frequency rank #12,750, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁɛ̃\. contrats is at rank #2,990, 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 15740, this pair ranks #391,029 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of contraints vs contrats
Shared letters: acnorst. Private to "contraints": i. Private to "contrats": -.
"contraints" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCCC · "contrats" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contraints ← ccontraints · cnotraints · conntraints · conrtaints · contarints · contrainnts · contrainst · contraintss
- contrats ← ccontrats · cnotrats · conntrats · conrtats · contarts · contrast · contratss · contratts
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "contraints" and "contrats" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "contraints" or "contrats" show up more?
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 "contraints" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contrats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #391,029 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contraints" and "contrats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contrastés vs contrats". 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 #391,029 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.