Which to use
“quêtes” and “queues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,785
- “quêtes” frequency rank
- #18,573
- “queues” frequency rank
- 44358
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quêtes | queues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de quête. | Pluriel de queue. |
Where the eye mixes quêtes and queues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. quêtes (CVVCVC) and queues (CVVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: quêtes vs queues
A purely visual mix-up. quêtes (\kɛt\) and queues (\kø\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44358, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quêtes is recorded at frequency rank #25,785, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɛt\. queues is at rank #18,573, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kø\.
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 44358, this pair ranks #211,028 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of quêtes vs queues
Shared letters: eqsu. Private to "quêtes": tê. Private to "queues": -.
"quêtes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "queues" · 6 letters · shape CVVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- queues ← qeuues · qqueues · queeus · queuess · queuse · quuees · uqeues
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "quêtes" and "queues" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "quêtes" or "queues" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "quêtes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "queues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #211,028 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quêtes" and "queues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quêtes vs quite". 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 #211,028 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.