Which to use
“cause” and “causses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #332
- “cause” frequency rank
- #48,974
- “causses” frequency rank
- 49306
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cause | causses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qui fait qu’une chose est ou s’opère. | Pluriel de causse. |
Where the eye mixes cause and causses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cause vs causses
A purely visual mix-up. cause (\koz\) and causses (\kos\) 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 49306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cause is recorded at frequency rank #332, classified as anoun, pronounced \koz\. causses is at rank #48,974, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kos\.
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 49306, this pair ranks #171,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cause vs causses
Shared letters: acesu. Private to "cause": -. Private to "causses": -.
"cause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "causses" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cause" and "causses" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cause" or "causses"?
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 "cause" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "causses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #171,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cause" and "causses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "causses vs crosses". 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 #171,761 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.