Which to use
“cailles” and “caillou” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,169
- “cailles” frequency rank
- #16,314
- “caillou” frequency rank
- 57483
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cailles | caillou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de caille. | Pierre de petite (ou moyenne) dimension. |
Where the eye mixes cailles and caillou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cailles (CVVCCVC) and caillou (CVVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between cailles and caillou
A purely visual mix-up. cailles (\kɑj\) and caillou (\ka.ju\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cailles is recorded at frequency rank #41,169, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɑj\. caillou is at rank #16,314, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.ju\.
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 57483, this pair ranks #114,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cailles vs caillou
Shared letters: acil. Private to "cailles": es. Private to "caillou": ou.
"cailles" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "caillou" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cailles" and "caillou" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cailles" or "caillou"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cailles" and "caillou" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cailles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "caillou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #114,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cailles" and "caillou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cailles vs callas". 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 #114,772 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.