causéevschausséeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: causée is a verb, chaussée is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“causée” is a verb and “chaussée” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,330
“causée” frequency rank
#5,223
“chaussée” frequency rank
17553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature causée chaussée
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier du verbe causer. Sorte de talus qu’on fait au bord d’une rivière, d’un étang, pour retenir l’eau.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set causée and chaussée apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
causée
8 ch
chaussée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: causée is \ko.ze\ while chaussée is \ʃo.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

causée is recorded at frequency rank #12,330, classified as averb, pronounced \ko.ze\. chaussée is at rank #5,223, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃo.se\.

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 17553, this pair ranks #382,598 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of causée vs chaussée

Shared letters: acesué. Private to "causée": -. Private to "chaussée": h.

"causée" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV  ·  "chaussée" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVV

Frequency comparison

causée#12,330
chaussée#5,223

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "causée" and "chaussée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "causée" is a verb and "chaussée" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "causée" or "chaussée"?
"chaussée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,223 in our French list, against #12,330 for "causée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering causée vs chaussée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “causée”; for a noun, it's “chaussée”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “causée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list