Which to use
“cadres” and “capes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,442
- “cadres” frequency rank
- #26,287
- “capes” frequency rank
- 29729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cadres | capes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de cadre. | Pluriel de cape. |
Where the eye mixes cadres and capes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cadres runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against capes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cadres vs capes
A purely visual mix-up. cadres (\kɑdʁ\) and capes (\kap\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cadres is recorded at frequency rank #3,442, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɑdʁ\. capes is at rank #26,287, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kap\.
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 29729, this pair ranks #314,884 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cadres vs capes
Shared letters: aces. Private to "cadres": dr. Private to "capes": p.
"cadres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "capes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cadres" and "capes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cadres" or "capes"?
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 "cadres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "capes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,884 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cadres" and "capes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capes vs chapel". 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 #314,884 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.