caussesvsclassesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“causses” and “classes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,974
“causses” frequency rank
#2,030
“classes” frequency rank
51004
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature causses classes
Definition Pluriel de causse. Pluriel de classe.

Where the eye mixes causses and classes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
causses
7 ch
classes

Look-alike desk: causses vs classes

A purely visual mix-up. causses (\kos\) and classes (\klas\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

causses is recorded at frequency rank #48,974, classified as anoun, pronounced \kos\. classes is at rank #2,030, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klas\.

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 51004, this pair ranks #158,298 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of causses vs classes

Shared letters: aces. Private to "causses": u. Private to "classes": l.

"causses" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "classes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caussesacusses · casuses · causess · caussess · caussse · ccausses · cuasses
  • classescalsses · cclasses · clasess · classess · classse · cllasses · clsases · lcasses

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "causses" and "classes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\kos\ versus \klas\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "causses" vs "classes" - which ranks higher?
"classes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,030 in our French list, against #48,974 for "causses". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "causses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "classes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #158,298 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "causses" and "classes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "causses vs crosses". 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 #158,298 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list