caunesvsclausesConfusable pair

Which to use

“caunes” and “clauses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,696
“caunes” frequency rank
#12,742
“clauses” frequency rank
54438
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caunes clauses
Definition Pluriel de caune. Pluriel de clause.

Where the eye mixes caunes and clauses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. caunes runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against clauses's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
caunes
7 ch
clauses

Look-alike desk: caunes vs clauses

A purely visual mix-up. caunes (\kon\) and clauses (\kloz\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54438, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caunes is recorded at frequency rank #41,696, classified as anoun, pronounced \kon\. clauses is at rank #12,742, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kloz\.

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 54438, this pair ranks #134,068 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caunes vs clauses

Shared letters: acesu. Private to "caunes": n. Private to "clauses": l.

"caunes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "clauses" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caunes ← acunes · canues · cauens · cauness · caunnes · caunse · ccaunes · cuanes
  • clauses ← caluses · cclauses · clasues · clauess · clausess · clausses · cllauses · cluases

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caunes" for "clauses" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kon\ versus \kloz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "caunes" vs "clauses" - which ranks higher?
"clauses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,742 in our French list, against #41,696 for "caunes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "caunes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clauses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #134,068 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caunes" and "clauses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caunes vs causses". 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 #134,068 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list