capesvscrêpesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,287
“capes” frequency rank
#12,757
“crêpes” frequency rank
39044
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capes crêpes
Definition Pluriel de cape. Pluriel de crêpe, sorte d’étoffe.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set capes and crêpes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
capes
6 ch
crêpes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. capes (\kap\) and crêpes (\kʁɛp\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39044, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capes is recorded at frequency rank #26,287, classified as anoun, pronounced \kap\. crêpes is at rank #12,757, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛp\.

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 39044, this pair ranks #250,918 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of capes vs crêpes

Shared letters: ceps. Private to "capes": a. Private to "crêpes": .

"capes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "crêpes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capesacpes · caeps · capess · cappes · capse · ccapes · cpaes

Frequency comparison

capes#26,287
crêpes#12,757

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "capes" and "crêpes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kap\ versus \kʁɛp\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "capes" or "crêpes"?
"crêpes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,757 in our French list, against #26,287 for "capes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering capes vs crêpes

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 “capes” 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