quartervsquartierWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,131
“quarter” frequency rank
#986
“quartier” frequency rank
49117
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quarter quartier
Definition Pièce d'un quart de dollar américain, soit 25 cents. Quart, une des quatre parties plus ou moins égales d'un tout.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quarter and quartier apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
quarter
8 ch
quartier

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. quarter (\kwaʁ.tɛʁ\) and quartier (\kaʁ.tje\) 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 49117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quarter is recorded at frequency rank #48,131, classified as anoun, pronounced \kwaʁ.tɛʁ\. quartier is at rank #986, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kaʁ.tje\.

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 49117, this pair ranks #173,359 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quarter vs quartier

Shared letters: aeqrtu. Private to "quarter": -. Private to "quartier": i.

"quarter" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "quartier" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quarterqaurter · qquarter · quaretr · quarrter · quarterr · quartre · quartter · quatrer
  • quartierqaurtier · qquartier · quariter · quarrtier · quarteir · quartierr · quartire · quarttier

Frequency comparison

quarter#48,131
quartier#986

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quarter" and "quartier" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kwaʁ.tɛʁ\ versus \kaʁ.tje\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "quarter" or "quartier"?
"quartier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #986 in our French list, against #48,131 for "quarter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering quarter vs quartier

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 “quarter” 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