cariesvscriéeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,190
“caries” frequency rank
#37,260
“criée” frequency rank
75450
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caries criée
Definition Pluriel de carie. Proclamation pour annoncer la vente des biens en justice.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
caries
5 ch
criée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. caries (\ka.ʁi\) and criée (\kʁi.je\) 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 75450, 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\. criée is at rank #37,260, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁi.je\.

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 75450, this pair ranks #34,072 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caries vs criée

Shared letters: ceir. Private to "caries": as. Private to "criée": é.

"caries" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "criée" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cariesacries · caires · careis · cariess · carise · carries · ccaries · craies

Frequency comparison

caries#38,190
criée#37,260

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caries" and "criée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ka.ʁi\ versus \kʁi.je\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caries" or "criée"?
"criée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,260 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 criée

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list