Which to use
“ceci” and “cela” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #959
- “ceci” frequency rank
- #150
- “cela” frequency rank
- 1109
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ceci | cela |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pronom démonstratif neutre désignant un objet situé à proximité de la personne qui parle ou une image située à proximité du mot. | Cette chose-là, par opposition à cette chose-ci. — Note d’usage : Pronom démonstratif neutre permettant de remplacer un objet distant (ou un être vivant dont on ignore la nature). En revanche (à l’inverse du pronom ceci), il ne remplace jamais une personne. |
Where the eye mixes ceci and cela
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ceci and cela follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between ceci and cela
A purely visual mix-up. ceci (\sə.si\) and cela (\sə.la\) 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 1109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ceci is recorded at frequency rank #959, classified as apron, pronounced \sə.si\. cela is at rank #150, tagged as apron, pronounced \sə.la\.
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 1109, this pair ranks #438,611 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ceci vs cela
Shared letters: ce. Private to "ceci": i. Private to "cela": al.
"ceci" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ceci" for "cela" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ceci" or "cela"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ceci" and "cela" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ceci" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,611 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ceci" and "cela" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs ceci". 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 #438,611 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.