Which to use
“causse” and “clause” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,174
- “causse” frequency rank
- #7,164
- “clause” frequency rank
- 48338
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | causse | clause |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom donné dans le Massif Central à de hauts plateaux calcaires nus et arides. | Disposition particulière faisant partie d’un traité, d’un contrat, d’un arrêté, d’une loi ou de tout autre acte public ou particulier, etc. |
Where the eye mixes causse and clause
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between causse and clause
A purely visual mix-up. causse (\kos\) and clause (\kloz\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48338, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
causse is recorded at frequency rank #41,174, classified as anoun, pronounced \kos\. clause is at rank #7,164, tagged as anoun, 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 48338, this pair ranks #179,721 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of causse vs clause
Shared letters: acesu. Private to "causse": -. Private to "clause": l.
"causse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "clause" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "causse" for "clause" ever safe?
Which is more common, "causse" or "clause"?
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 "causse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clause" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,721 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "causse" and "clause" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "causse vs causses". 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 #179,721 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.