Which to use
“caserne” and “caverne” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,923
- “caserne” frequency rank
- #16,566
- “caverne” frequency rank
- 28489
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caserne | caverne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bâtiment destiné au logement des troupes. | Cavité naturelle dans des rochers, dans des montagnes, sous terre. |
Where the eye mixes caserne and caverne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. caserne and caverne follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between caserne and caverne
A purely visual mix-up. caserne (\ka.zɛʁn\) and caverne (\ka.vɛʁn\) 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 a single letter - s in “caserne” becomes v in “caverne”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caserne is recorded at frequency rank #11,923, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.zɛʁn\. caverne is at rank #16,566, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.vɛʁn\.
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 28489, this pair ranks #322,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caserne vs caverne
Shared letters: acenr. Private to "caserne": s. Private to "caverne": v.
"caserne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "caverne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "caserne" and "caverne" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "caserne" or "caverne"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "caserne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "caverne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #322,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caserne" and "caverne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carne vs caverne". 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 #322,452 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.