CesvscryWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#35,690
“Ces” frequency rank
#21,937
“cry” frequency rank
57627
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ces cry
Definition Ton mit 495 Hz und alle Töne im Oktavabstand dazu, um einen Halbton vermindertes C weinen, heulen

Where the eye mixes Ces and cry

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
Ces
3 ch
cry

Visual trap between Ces and cry

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ces is [t͡sɛs] while cry is [kɹaɪ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ces is recorded at frequency rank #35,690, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡sɛs]. cry is at rank #21,937, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɹaɪ].

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 57627, this pair ranks #894,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ces vs cry

Shared letters: c. Private to "Ces": es. Private to "cry": ry.

"Ces" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "cry" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ces" for "cry" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ces" is a noun and "cry" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Ces" vs "cry" - which ranks higher?
"cry" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,937 in our German list, against #35,690 for "Ces". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #894,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ces" and "cry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCS vs Ces". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #894,093 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list