caléevscalmaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: calée is a adjective, calma is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“calée” is an adjective and “calma” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,384
“calée” frequency rank
#47,202
“calma” frequency rank
95586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calée calma
Definition Féminin singulier de calé. Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de calmer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set calée and calma apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
calée
5 ch
calma

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: calée is \ka.le\ while calma is \kal.ma\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 95586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calée is recorded at frequency rank #48,384, classified as anadj, pronounced \ka.le\. calma is at rank #47,202, tagged as averb, pronounced \kal.ma\.

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 95586, this pair ranks #1,037 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of calée vs calma

Shared letters: acl. Private to "calée": . Private to "calma": m.

"calée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "calma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calmaaclma · calam · callma · calmma · camla · ccalma · clama

Frequency comparison

calée#48,384
calma#47,202

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "calée" and "calma" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "calée" is an adjective and "calma" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "calée" or "calma"?
"calma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #47,202 in our French list, against #48,384 for "calée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering calée vs calma

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “calée”; for a verb, it's “calma”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “calée” 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