quêtesvsquittésConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#25,785
“quêtes” frequency rank
#24,733
“quittés” frequency rank
50518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quêtes quittés
Definition Pluriel de quête. Participe passé masculin pluriel de quitter.

Where the eye mixes quêtes and quittés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. quêtes runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against quittés's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
quêtes
7 ch
quittés

Visual trap between quêtes and quittés

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quêtes is \kɛt\ while quittés is \ki.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50518, 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\. quittés is at rank #24,733, tagged as averb, pronounced \ki.te\.

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 50518, this pair ranks #162,041 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quêtes vs quittés

Shared letters: qstu. Private to "quêtes": eê. Private to "quittés": ié.

"quêtes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "quittés" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "quêtes" and "quittés" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quêtes" is a noun and "quittés" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "quêtes" or "quittés" show up more?
"quittés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,733 in our French list, against #25,785 for "quêtes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "quêtes" and "quittés" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quêtes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quittés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #162,041 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quêtes" and "quittés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quêtes vs quite". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #162,041 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list