Which to use
“cae” is a verb and “calée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,819
- “cae” frequency rank
- #48,384
- “calée” frequency rank
- 92203
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cae | calée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif du verbe irrégulier caer. | Féminin singulier de calé. |
Where the eye mixes cae and calée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cae runs 3 letters (CVV) against calée's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cae with calée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cae is \ˈka.e\ while calée is \ka.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 92203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cae is recorded at frequency rank #43,819, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈka.e\. calée is at rank #48,384, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ka.le\.
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 92203, this pair ranks #3,191 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cae vs calée
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cae": -. Private to "calée": lé.
"cae" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "calée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cae" for "calée" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cae" vs "calée" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cae" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "calée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,191 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cae" and "calée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cakes vs calée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #3,191 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.