caillesvscaissesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cailles” and “caisses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,169
“cailles” frequency rank
#5,322
“caisses” frequency rank
46491
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cailles caisses
Definition Pluriel de caille. Pluriel de caisse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cailles and caisses apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
cailles
7 ch
caisses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cailles (\kɑj\) and caisses (\kɛs\) 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 46491, 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\. caisses is at rank #5,322, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɛs\.

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 46491, this pair ranks #194,509 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cailles vs caisses

Shared letters: aceis. Private to "cailles": l. Private to "caisses": -.

"cailles" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "caisses" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caillesacilles · cailels · cailes · cailless · caillse · caliles · ccailles · cialles
  • caissesacisses · caisess · caissess · caissse · casises · ccaisses · ciasses

Frequency comparison

cailles#41,169
caisses#5,322

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cailles" and "caisses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɑj\ versus \kɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cailles" or "caisses"?
"caisses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,322 in our French list, against #41,169 for "cailles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cailles vs caisses

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cailles” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list