notavsnotantWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nota is a noun, notant is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nota” is a noun and “notant” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,297
“nota” frequency rank
#26,813
“notant” frequency rank
50110
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nota notant
Definition Note, avertissement donné au lecteur pour attirer son attention sur une remarque importante. Participe présent de noter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nota and notant apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
nota
6 ch
notant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nota is \nɔ.ta\ while notant is \nɔ.tɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “nota” sits inside “notant”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nota is recorded at frequency rank #23,297, classified as anoun, pronounced \nɔ.ta\. notant is at rank #26,813, tagged as averb, pronounced \nɔ.tɑ̃\.

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 50110, this pair ranks #165,248 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nota vs notant

Shared letters: anot. Private to "nota": -. Private to "notant": -.

"nota" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "notant" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • notannota · noat · notta · ntoa · onta
  • notantnnotant · noatnt · notannt · notantt · notatn · notnat · nottant · ntoant

Frequency comparison

nota#23,297
notant#26,813

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nota" and "notant" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nota" is a noun and "notant" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nota" or "notant"?
"nota" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,297 in our French list, against #26,813 for "notant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nota vs notant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “nota”; for a verb, it's “notant”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nota” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list