quitevsquitteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: quite is a noun, quitte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quite” is a noun and “quitte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,886
“quite” frequency rank
#1,752
“quitte” frequency rank
51638
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quite quitte
Definition Passe de cape destinée à éloigner le taureau de l’endroit où il pourrait blesser un torero. Libéré d’une dette, d’une obligation, d’un devoir moral.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
quite
6 ch
quitte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: quite is anoun and quitteanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quite is recorded at frequency rank #49,886, classified as anoun. quitte is at rank #1,752, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kit\.

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 51638, this pair ranks #153,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quite vs quitte

Shared letters: eiqtu. Private to "quite": -. Private to "quitte": -.

"quite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "quitte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quiteqiute · qquite · quiet · qutie · uqite
  • quitteqiutte · qquitte · quitet · qutite · uqitte

Frequency comparison

quite#49,886
quitte#1,752

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quite" and "quitte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quite" is a noun and "quitte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quite" or "quitte"?
"quitte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,752 in our French list, against #49,886 for "quite". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering quite vs quitte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “quite”; for an adjective, it's “quitte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quite” 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