Which to use
“cas” is a noun and “ces” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #157
- “cas” frequency rank
- #74
- “ces” frequency rank
- 231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cas | ces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Accident, aventure, conjoncture, occasion ; fait arrivé, ou qui peut arriver. | Pluriel de ce et cette. |
Where the eye mixes cas and ces
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cas vs ces
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cas is \kɑ\ while ces is \se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “cas” becomes e in “ces”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cas is recorded at frequency rank #157, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɑ\. ces is at rank #74, tagged as adet, pronounced \se\.
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 231, this pair ranks #439,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cas vs ces
Shared letters: cs. Private to "cas": a. Private to "ces": e.
"cas" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "ces" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cas" for "ces" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cas" vs "ces" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cas" and "ces" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cas" and "ces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cas vs CCE". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #439,933 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.