Which to use
“cadeau” and “cadran” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,853
- “cadeau” frequency rank
- #17,891
- “cadran” frequency rank
- 19744
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cadeau | cadran |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Présent, don. | Surface sur laquelle sont tracés les chiffres des heures et où la marche du temps est indiquée soit par l’ombre d’un style, soit par une aiguille que meuvent des ressorts intérieurs. |
Where the eye mixes cadeau and cadran
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cadeau (CVCVVV) and cadran (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses cadeau with cadran
A purely visual mix-up. cadeau (\ka.do\) and cadran (\ka.dʁɑ̃\) 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 19744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cadeau is recorded at frequency rank #1,853, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.do\. cadran is at rank #17,891, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.dʁɑ̃\.
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 19744, this pair ranks #371,788 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cadeau vs cadran
Shared letters: acd. Private to "cadeau": eu. Private to "cadran": nr.
"cadeau" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV · "cadran" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cadeau" for "cadran" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cadeau" or "cadran"?
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 "cadeau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cadran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #371,788 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cadeau" and "cadran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cachan vs cadran". 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 #371,788 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.