Which to use
“cause” is a noun and “Claude” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #332
- “cause” frequency rank
- #1,696
- “Claude” frequency rank
- 2028
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cause | Claude |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qui fait qu’une chose est ou s’opère. | Nom de famille. |
Where the eye mixes cause and Claude
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cause and Claude
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cause is \koz\ while Claude is \klod\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2028, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cause is recorded at frequency rank #332, classified as anoun, pronounced \koz\. Claude is at rank #1,696, tagged as aname, pronounced \klod\.
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 2028, this pair ranks #436,906 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cause vs Claude
Shared letters: aceu. Private to "cause": s. Private to "Claude": dl.
"cause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "Claude" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cause" and "Claude" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cause" vs "Claude" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cause" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Claude" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #436,906 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cause" and "Claude" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "claquée vs Claude". 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 #436,906 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.