cela

\sə.la\

/\sə.la\/ pron

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“cela” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #150 in French word frequency and used as a pronoun.

#150
frequency rank, French
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Cette chose-là, par opposition à cette chose-ci. — Note d’usage : Pronom démonstratif neutre permettant de remplacer un objet distant (ou un être vivant dont on ignore la nature). En revanche (à l’...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cela vs Cl
25% similar
cela vs ces
50% similar
cela vs cet
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cela
PropertyValue
Headwordcela
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPronoun
IPA\sə.la\
Letters4
Frequency rank#150
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cela” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). cela lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for cela is 4 letters long, classified as a pronoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \sə.la\. Corpus data places it at rank #150 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for cela, with forms such as "ccela", "ceal", and "cella". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Cl", "ces", "cet", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is cela, spelled C-E-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cette chose-là, par opposition à cette chose-ci. — Note d’usage : Pronom démonstratif neutre permettant de remplacer un objet distant (ou un être vivant dont on ignore la nature). En revanche (à l’inverse du pronom ceci), il ne remplace jamais une personne.
  2. 2
    Cette chose, cette situation. — Note d’usage : Sans opposition à ceci. On utilise ce devant le verbe être, et plus souvent ça dans les autres cas à l’oral.
  3. 3
    Ce qui vient d'être dit.

This word in other languages

that(English)esa(Español)das(Deutsch)isso(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccela,ceal,cella,clea,ecla

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cela - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ccela1ceal2cella1clea2ecla2
Edit distance from "cela"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cela"?
"cela" is spelled C-E-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is \sə.la\.
What does "cela" mean?
As a pronoun, "cela" means: Cette chose-là, par opposition à cette chose-ci. — Note d’usage : Pronom démonstratif neutre permettant de remplacer un objet distant (ou un être vivant dont on ignore la nature). En revanche (à l’...
What words are commonly confused with "cela"?
"cela" is commonly confused with "Cl", "ces", "cet". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cela"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cela" is \sə.la\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cela" come from?
"cela" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “cela”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is C-E-L-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \sə.la\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Cl” - see the side-by-side comparison. cela vs Cl
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list