Which to use
“causses” and “clauses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,974
- “causses” frequency rank
- #12,742
- “clauses” frequency rank
- 61716
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | causses | clauses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de causse. | Pluriel de clause. |
Where the eye mixes causses and clauses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. causses (CVVCCVC) and clauses (CCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses causses with clauses
A purely visual mix-up. causses (\kos\) and clauses (\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 61716, 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\. clauses is at rank #12,742, 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 61716, this pair ranks #90,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of causses vs clauses
Shared letters: acesu. Private to "causses": -. Private to "clauses": l.
"causses" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "clauses" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "causses" and "clauses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "causses" vs "clauses" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "causses" and "clauses" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "causses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clauses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "causses" and "clauses" 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 #90,825 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.