Which to use
“cause” and “caux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #332
- “cause” frequency rank
- #38,692
- “caux” frequency rank
- 39024
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cause | caux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qui fait qu’une chose est ou s’opère. | Mélange de choux, de navets et de pommes que l’on donne aux vaches et aux cochons. |
Where the eye mixes cause and caux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cause and caux
A purely visual mix-up. cause (\koz\) and caux (\ko\) 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 39024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cause is recorded at frequency rank #332, classified as anoun, pronounced \koz\. caux is at rank #38,692, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ko\.
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 39024, this pair ranks #251,054 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cause vs caux
Shared letters: acu. Private to "cause": es. Private to "caux": x.
"cause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "caux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cause" and "caux" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "cause" or "caux" show up more?
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 "cause" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "caux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #251,054 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cause" and "caux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casus vs caux". 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 #251,054 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.