Which to use
“cadrer” and “causer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,324
- “cadrer” frequency rank
- #6,377
- “causer” frequency rank
- 38701
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cadrer | causer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | S’ajuster à, avoir de la convenance, du rapport. | Être cause de ; occasionner, provoquer. |
Where the eye mixes cadrer and causer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cadrer with causer
A purely visual mix-up. cadrer (\kɑ.dʁe\) and causer (\ko.ze\) 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 38701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cadrer is recorded at frequency rank #32,324, classified as averb, pronounced \kɑ.dʁe\. causer is at rank #6,377, tagged as averb, pronounced \ko.ze\.
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 38701, this pair ranks #253,404 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cadrer vs causer
Shared letters: acer. Private to "cadrer": d. Private to "causer": su.
"cadrer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "causer" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cadrer" and "causer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "cadrer" or "causer" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cadrer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "causer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #253,404 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cadrer" and "causer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cadrer vs carrez". 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 #253,404 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.