Which to use
“cae” is a verb and “craie” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,819
- “cae” frequency rank
- #20,105
- “craie” frequency rank
- 63924
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cae | craie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif du verbe irrégulier caer. | Roche biogène de couleur blanche, constituée presque exclusivement de carbonate de calcium provenant essentiellement des débris de l’exosquelette de microorganismes planctoniques vivants au Crétacé. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cae and craie apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cae is \ˈka.e\ while craie is \kʁɛ\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63924, 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\. craie is at rank #20,105, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛ\.
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 63924, this pair ranks #79,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cae vs craie
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cae": -. Private to "craie": ir.
"cae" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "craie" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- craie ← ccraie · craei · criae · crraie · rcaie
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cae" and "craie" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cae" or "craie"?
Remembering cae vs craie
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “cae”; for a noun, it's “craie”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cae” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable