frottentvsfrotterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“frottent” and “frotter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,794
“frottent” frequency rank
#13,600
“frotter” frequency rank
55394
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frottent frotter
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de frotter. Passer une chose sur une autre à quelques ou plusieurs reprises, en appuyant, en pressant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set frottent and frotter apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
frottent
7 ch
frotter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. frottent (\fʁɔt\) and frotter (\fʁɔ.te\) 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 55394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frottent is recorded at frequency rank #41,794, classified as averb, pronounced \fʁɔt\. frotter is at rank #13,600, tagged as averb, pronounced \fʁɔ.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 55394, this pair ranks #127,733 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of frottent vs frotter

Shared letters: efort. Private to "frottent": n. Private to "frotter": -.

"frottent" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "frotter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • frottentffrottent · forttent · frotent · frotetnt · frottennt · frottentt · frottetn · frottnet
  • frotterffrotter · fortter · froter · frotetr · frotterr · frottre · frrotter · frtoter

Frequency comparison

frottent#41,794
frotter#13,600

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "frottent" and "frotter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fʁɔt\ versus \fʁɔ.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "frottent" or "frotter"?
"frotter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,600 in our French list, against #41,794 for "frottent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering frottent vs frotter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “frottent” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list