cèdresvscellesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cèdres” and “celles” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,212
“cèdres” frequency rank
#704
“celles” frequency rank
41916
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cèdres celles
Definition Pluriel de cèdre Pluriel de celle.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cèdres and celles apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
cèdres
6 ch
celles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cèdres (\sɛdʁ\) and celles (\sɛl\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cèdres is recorded at frequency rank #41,212, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛdʁ\. celles is at rank #704, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛl\.

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 41916, this pair ranks #229,592 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cèdres vs celles

Shared letters: ces. Private to "cèdres": drè. Private to "celles": l.

"cèdres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "celles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cellesccelles · celels · celes · celless · cellse · cleles · eclles

Frequency comparison

cèdres#41,212
celles#704

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cèdres" and "celles" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɛdʁ\ versus \sɛl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cèdres" or "celles"?
"celles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #704 in our French list, against #41,212 for "cèdres". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cèdres vs celles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cèdres” 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