Which to use
“carreau” is a noun and “carrées” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,826
- “carreau” frequency rank
- #24,510
- “carrées” frequency rank
- 40336
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | carreau | carrées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Objet plat, ou ouverture, au contour approximativement carré. | Féminin pluriel de carré. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set carreau and carrées apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: carreau is \ka.ʁo\ while carrées is \ka.ʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
carreau is recorded at frequency rank #15,826, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁo\. carrées is at rank #24,510, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ka.ʁe\.
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 40336, this pair ranks #241,299 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of carreau vs carrées
Shared letters: acer. Private to "carreau": u. Private to "carrées": sé.
"carreau" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV · "carrées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- carreau ← acrreau · careau · carerau · carraeu · carreua · ccarreau · crareau
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "carreau" and "carrées" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "carreau" or "carrées"?
Remembering carreau vs carrées
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “carreau”; for an adjective, it's “carrées”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “carreau” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable