Which to use
“caverne” and “citerne” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,566
- “caverne” frequency rank
- #22,798
- “citerne” frequency rank
- 39364
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caverne | citerne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cavité naturelle dans des rochers, dans des montagnes, sous terre. | Réservoir souterrain ou non, destiné à recevoir et garder l’eau pluviale. |
Where the eye mixes caverne and citerne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. caverne and citerne follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses caverne with citerne
A purely visual mix-up. caverne (\ka.vɛʁn\) and citerne (\si.tɛʁn\) 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 39364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caverne is recorded at frequency rank #16,566, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.vɛʁn\. citerne is at rank #22,798, tagged as anoun, pronounced \si.tɛʁn\.
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 39364, this pair ranks #248,551 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caverne vs citerne
Shared letters: cenr. Private to "caverne": av. Private to "citerne": it.
"caverne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "citerne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caverne" for "citerne" ever safe?
Which is more common, "caverne" or "citerne"?
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 "caverne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "citerne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,551 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caverne" and "citerne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "citera vs citerne". 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 #248,551 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.