cédéevscerneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cédée is a verb, cerne is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cédée” is a verb and “cerne” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,121
“cédée” frequency rank
#43,332
“cerne” frequency rank
73453
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cédée cerne
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier du verbe céder. Cercle sombre qui se forme autour de l’œil.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cédée and cerne apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cédée
5 ch
cerne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cédée is \se.de\ while cerne is \sɛʁn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cédée is recorded at frequency rank #30,121, classified as averb, pronounced \se.de\. cerne is at rank #43,332, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛʁn\.

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 73453, this pair ranks #40,423 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cédée vs cerne

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cédée": . Private to "cerne": nr.

"cédée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "cerne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cerneccerne · cenre · ceren · cernne · cerrne · crene · ecrne

Frequency comparison

cédée#30,121
cerne#43,332

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cédée" and "cerne" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cédée" is a verb and "cerne" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cédée" or "cerne"?
"cédée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,121 in our French list, against #43,332 for "cerne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cédée vs cerne

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list