Which to use
“calma” and “causa” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,202
- “calma” frequency rank
- #20,078
- “causa” frequency rank
- 67280
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calma | causa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de calmer. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de causer. |
Where the eye mixes calma and causa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. calma (CVCCV) and causa (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: calma vs causa
A purely visual mix-up. calma (\kal.ma\) and causa (\ko.za\) 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 67280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calma is recorded at frequency rank #47,202, classified as averb, pronounced \kal.ma\. causa is at rank #20,078, tagged as averb, pronounced \ko.za\.
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 67280, this pair ranks #64,089 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of calma vs causa
Shared letters: ac. Private to "calma": lm. Private to "causa": su.
"calma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "causa" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "calma" for "causa" ever safe?
Which is more common, "calma" or "causa"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "calma" and "causa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "calma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "causa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,089 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calma" and "causa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calma vs colla". 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 #64,089 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.