Which to use
“ce” is a determiner and “cts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25
- “ce” frequency rank
- #39,736
- “cts” frequency rank
- 39761
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ce | cts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Déterminant utilisé pour mettre en évidence une chose ou une personne dont on a la représentation devant soi. Lorsque l’objet est en nombre multiple ou lorsqu’on veut appuyer encore plus sur ce qu’on veut montrer, on rajoute -ci ou -là (selon la distance) après le nom. | Carats |
Where the eye mixes ce and cts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between ce and cts
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ce is \sə\ while cts is \ka.ʁa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39761, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ce is recorded at frequency rank #25, classified as adet, pronounced \sə\. cts is at rank #39,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁa\.
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 39761, this pair ranks #245,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ce vs cts
Shared letters: c. Private to "ce": e. Private to "cts": st.
"ce" · 2 letters · shape CV · "cts" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ce" and "cts" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ce" vs "cts" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #245,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ce" and "cts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs cts". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #245,605 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.