Which to use
“cage” and “can” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,639
- “cage” frequency rank
- #5,217
- “can” frequency rank
- 10856
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cage | can |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petite loge portative faite de fils de fer ou de menus bâtons d’osier et dans laquelle on enferme ordinairement des petits animaux. | Face la moins large d’une pièce de bois ou d'une tôle métallique. |
Where the eye mixes cage and can
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cage and can
A purely visual mix-up. cage (\kaʒ\) and can (\kɑ̃\) 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 10856, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cage is recorded at frequency rank #5,639, classified as anoun, pronounced \kaʒ\. can is at rank #5,217, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɑ̃\.
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 10856, this pair ranks #411,410 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cage vs can
Shared letters: ac. Private to "cage": eg. Private to "can": n.
"cage" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "can" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cage ← acge · caeg · cagge · ccage · cgae
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cage" for "can" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cage" vs "can" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "can" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #411,410 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cage" and "can" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cage vs curage". 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 #411,410 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.