Which to use
“caries” and “crimes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,190
- “caries” frequency rank
- #2,916
- “crimes” frequency rank
- 41106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caries | crimes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de carie. | Pluriel de crime. |
Where the eye mixes caries and crimes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. caries (CVCVVC) and crimes (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between caries and crimes
A purely visual mix-up. caries (\ka.ʁi\) and crimes (\kʁim\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41106, 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\. crimes is at rank #2,916, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁim\.
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 41106, this pair ranks #235,525 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caries vs crimes
Shared letters: ceirs. Private to "caries": a. Private to "crimes": m.
"caries" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "crimes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caries" and "crimes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "caries" or "crimes"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "caries" and "crimes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caries" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crimes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #235,525 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caries" and "crimes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caries vs carrez". 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 #235,525 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.