Which to use
“cats” and “clés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,094
- “cats” frequency rank
- #2,666
- “clés” frequency rank
- 30760
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cats | clés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de cat. | Pluriel de clé. |
Where the eye mixes cats and clés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cats and clés
A purely visual mix-up. cats (\kat\) and clés (\kle\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cats is recorded at frequency rank #28,094, classified as anoun, pronounced \kat\. clés is at rank #2,666, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kle\.
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 30760, this pair ranks #308,169 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cats vs clés
Shared letters: cs. Private to "cats": at. Private to "clés": lé.
"cats" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "clés" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cats ← acts · catss · catts · ccats · ctas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cats" for "clés" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cats" or "clés"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cats" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,169 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cats" and "clés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cakes vs cats". 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 #308,169 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.