Which to use
“caution” is a noun and “cautionne” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,794
- “caution” frequency rank
- #33,162
- “cautionne” frequency rank
- 39956
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caution | cautionne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Garantie, assurance d’un engagement pris. → voir caution bourgeoise | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe cautionner. |
Where the eye mixes caution and cautionne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses caution with cautionne
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caution is \ko.sjɔ̃\ while cautionne is \kɔ.sjɔn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “caution” sits inside “cautionne”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caution is recorded at frequency rank #6,794, classified as anoun, pronounced \ko.sjɔ̃\. cautionne is at rank #33,162, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.sjɔn\.
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 39956, this pair ranks #244,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caution vs cautionne
Shared letters: acinotu. Private to "caution": -. Private to "cautionne": e.
"caution" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "cautionne" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "caution" and "cautionne" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "caution" or "cautionne" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "caution" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cautionne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #244,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caution" and "cautionne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cautionne vs cautions". 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 #244,110 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.