Which to use
“calée” is an adjective and “causée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,384
- “calée” frequency rank
- #12,330
- “causée” frequency rank
- 60714
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calée | causée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de calé. | Participe passé féminin singulier du verbe causer. |
Where the eye mixes calée and causée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. calée runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against causée's 6 (CVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses calée with causée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: calée is \ka.le\ while causée is \ko.ze\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60714, 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\. causée is at rank #12,330, tagged as averb, pronounced \ko.ze\.
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 60714, this pair ranks #96,192 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of calée vs causée
Shared letters: aceé. Private to "calée": l. Private to "causée": su.
"calée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "causée" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "calée" for "causée" ever safe?
Frequency check: "calée" vs "causée" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "calée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "causée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #96,192 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calée" and "causée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cakes vs calée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #96,192 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.