cai vs ci, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“cai” is a noun and “ci” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,045
“cai” frequency rank: #264
“ci” frequency rank: 46309
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	cai	ci
Definition	Bien, affaire, objet, chose, fortune.	ou (Utilisé uniquement dans les compositions, pas utilisé isolément) Ici.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cai and ci apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

cai

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cai is \kaj\ while ci is \si\. 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 (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cai is recorded at frequency rank #46,045, classified as anoun, pronounced \kaj\. ci is at rank #264, tagged as anadv, pronounced \si\.

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 46309, this pair ranks #195,959 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cai vs ci

Shared letters: ci. Private to "cai": a. Private to "ci": -.

"cai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "ci" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

cai#46,045

ci#264

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cai" and "ci" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cai" is a noun and "ci" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "cai" or "ci"?

"ci" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #264 in our French list, against #46,045 for "cai". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cai vs ci

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “cai”; for an adverb, it's “ci”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cai” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable