cariesvscarrierWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,190
“caries” frequency rank
#23,130
“carrier” frequency rank
61320
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caries carrier
Definition Pluriel de carie. Celui qui exploite une carrière ou qui travaille dans une carrière.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
caries
7 ch
carrier

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. caries (\ka.ʁi\) and carrier (\ka.ʁje\) 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 61320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caries is recorded at frequency rank #38,190, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁi\. carrier is at rank #23,130, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁje\.

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 61320, this pair ranks #92,898 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caries vs carrier

Shared letters: aceir. Private to "caries": s. Private to "carrier": -.

"caries" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "carrier" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cariesacries · caires · careis · cariess · carise · carries · ccaries · craies
  • carrieracrrier · carier · carirer · carreir · carrierr · carrire · ccarrier · crarier

Frequency comparison

caries#38,190
carrier#23,130

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caries" and "carrier" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ka.ʁi\ versus \ka.ʁje\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caries" or "carrier"?
"carrier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,130 in our French list, against #38,190 for "caries". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering caries vs carrier

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 “caries” 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