Which to use
“contrées” and “contrôles” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,584
- “contrées” frequency rank
- #5,542
- “contrôles” frequency rank
- 22126
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contrées | contrôles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de contrée. | Pluriel de contrôle. |
Where the eye mixes contrées and contrôles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. contrées runs 8 letters (CVCCCVVC) against contrôles's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: contrées vs contrôles
A purely visual mix-up. contrées (\kɔ̃.tʁe\) and contrôles (\kɔ̃.tʁol\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contrées is recorded at frequency rank #16,584, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁe\. contrôles is at rank #5,542, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁol\.
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 22126, this pair ranks #359,707 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of contrées vs contrôles
Shared letters: cenorst. Private to "contrées": é. Private to "contrôles": lô.
"contrées" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC · "contrôles" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contrées" for "contrôles" ever safe?
Frequency check: "contrées" vs "contrôles" - which ranks higher?
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 "contrées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contrôles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,707 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contrées" and "contrôles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "congres vs contrées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #359,707 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.