Which to use
“caserne” and “cerne” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,923
- “caserne” frequency rank
- #43,332
- “cerne” frequency rank
- 55255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caserne | cerne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bâtiment destiné au logement des troupes. | Cercle sombre qui se forme autour de l’œil. |
Where the eye mixes caserne and cerne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. caserne runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against cerne's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between caserne and cerne
A purely visual mix-up. caserne (\ka.zɛʁn\) and cerne (\sɛʁn\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55255, 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\. cerne is at rank #43,332, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛʁn\.
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 55255, this pair ranks #128,644 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caserne vs cerne
Shared letters: cenr. Private to "caserne": as. Private to "cerne": -.
"caserne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "cerne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "caserne" and "cerne" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "caserne" or "cerne"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "caserne" and "cerne" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caserne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cerne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #128,644 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caserne" and "cerne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cerne vs CNE". 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 #128,644 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.