caissevscausseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,410
“caisse” frequency rank
#41,174
“causse” frequency rank
43584
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caisse causse
Definition Contenant rigide, de forme cubique ou parallélépipédique, constitué par l'assemblage de panneaux pleins ou à claire-voie, dans lequel on peut mettre des objets, pour les stocker ou les transporter. Nom donné dans le Massif Central à de hauts plateaux calcaires nus et arides.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
caisse
6 ch
causse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. caisse (\kɛs\) and causse (\kos\) 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 a single letter - i in “caisse” becomes u in “causse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caisse is recorded at frequency rank #2,410, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɛs\. causse is at rank #41,174, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kos\.

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 43584, this pair ranks #216,959 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caisse vs causse

Shared letters: aces. Private to "caisse": i. Private to "causse": u.

"caisse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "causse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caisseacisse · caise · caises · casise · ccaisse · ciasse
  • causseacusse · casuse · ccausse · cuasse

Frequency comparison

caisse#2,410
causse#41,174

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caisse" and "causse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɛs\ versus \kos\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caisse" or "causse"?
"caisse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,410 in our French list, against #41,174 for "causse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering caisse vs causse

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 “caisse” 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