Which to use
“quai” and “quart” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,609
- “quai” frequency rank
- #2,733
- “quart” frequency rank
- 7342
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quai | quart |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Levée ordinairement revêtue de pierres de taille et faite le long d’une rivière ou d’un canal, pour rendre le chemin praticable et pour empêcher le débordement de l’eau. | Partie d’une unité subdivisée en quatre parties égales. 1/4. |
Where the eye mixes quai and quart
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses quai with quart
A purely visual mix-up. quai (\kɛ\) and quart (\kaʁ\) 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 7342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quai is recorded at frequency rank #4,609, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɛ\. quart is at rank #2,733, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kaʁ\.
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 7342, this pair ranks #423,459 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of quai vs quart
Shared letters: aqu. Private to "quai": i. Private to "quart": rt.
"quai" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "quart" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "quai" for "quart" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "quai" or "quart" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "quai" and "quart" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "quai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quart" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #423,459 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quai" and "quart" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quadra vs quart". 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 #423,459 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.