causésvsclosesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: causés is a verb, closes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“causés” is a verb and “closes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,466
“causés” frequency rank
#24,153
“closes” frequency rank
34619
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature causés closes
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel du verbe causer. Féminin pluriel de clos.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set causés and closes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
causés
6 ch
closes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: causés is \ko.ze\ while closes is \kloz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

causés is recorded at frequency rank #10,466, classified as averb, pronounced \ko.ze\. closes is at rank #24,153, tagged as anadj, 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 34619, this pair ranks #282,550 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of causés vs closes

Shared letters: cs. Private to "causés": aué. Private to "closes": elo.

"causés" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "closes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • closesccloses · clloses · cloess · closess · closses · clsoes · colses · lcoses

Frequency comparison

causés#10,466
closes#24,153

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "causés" and "closes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "causés" is a verb and "closes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "causés" or "closes"?
"causés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,466 in our French list, against #24,153 for "closes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering causés vs closes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “causés”; for an adjective, it's “closes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “causés” 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