quartervsquartzWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,131
“quarter” frequency rank
#15,985
“quartz” frequency rank
64116
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quarter quartz
Definition Pièce d'un quart de dollar américain, soit 25 cents. Espèce minérale, du groupe des silicates, sous-groupe des tectosilicates composé de dioxyde de silicium de formule SiO₂. Le quartz est le minéral le plus commun.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quarter and quartz apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
quarter
6 ch
quartz

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. quarter (\kwaʁ.tɛʁ\) and quartz (\kwaʁts\) 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 64116, 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\. quartz is at rank #15,985, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kwaʁts\.

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 64116, this pair ranks #78,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of quarter vs quartz

Shared letters: aqrtu. Private to "quarter": e. Private to "quartz": z.

"quarter" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "quartz" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quarterqaurter · qquarter · quaretr · quarrter · quarterr · quartre · quartter · quatrer
  • quartzqaurtz · qquartz · quarrtz · quarttz · quartzz · quarzt · quatrz · quratz

Frequency comparison

quarter#48,131
quartz#15,985

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quarter" and "quartz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kwaʁ.tɛʁ\ versus \kwaʁts\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "quarter" or "quartz"?
"quartz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,985 in our French list, against #48,131 for "quarter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quarter vs quartz

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