Which to use
“cae” is a verb and “clés” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,819
- “cae” frequency rank
- #2,666
- “clés” frequency rank
- 46485
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cae | clés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif du verbe irrégulier caer. | Pluriel de clé. |
Where the eye mixes cae and clés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between cae and clés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cae is \ˈka.e\ while clés is \kle\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46485, 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\. clés is at rank #2,666, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kle\.
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 46485, this pair ranks #194,554 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cae vs clés
Shared letters: c. Private to "cae": ae. Private to "clés": lsé.
"cae" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "clés" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cae" for "clés" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cae" or "clés"?
Useful next steps
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 "clés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #194,554 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cae" and "clés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cae vs CCE". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #194,554 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.