céda vs ces, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“céda” is a verb and “ces” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,740
“céda” frequency rank: #74
“ces” frequency rank: 38814
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	céda	ces
Definition	Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe céder.	Pluriel de ce et cette.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set céda and ces apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

céda

3 ch

ces

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: céda is \se.da\ while ces is \se\. 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 (verb vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

céda is recorded at frequency rank #38,740, classified as averb, pronounced \se.da\. ces is at rank #74, tagged as adet, pronounced \se\.

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 38814, this pair ranks #252,602 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of céda vs ces

Shared letters: c. Private to "céda": adé. Private to "ces": es.

"céda" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "ces" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

céda#38,740

ces#74

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "céda" and "ces" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "céda" is a verb and "ces" a determiner, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "céda" or "ces"?

"ces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #74 in our French list, against #38,740 for "céda". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering céda vs ces

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “céda”; for a determiner, it's “ces”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “céda” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable