Which to use
“celles” and “cellules” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #704
- “celles” frequency rank
- #3,125
- “cellules” frequency rank
- 3829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | celles | cellules |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de celle. | Pluriel de cellule. |
Where the eye mixes celles and cellules
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between celles and cellules
A purely visual mix-up. celles (\sɛl\) and cellules (\se.lyl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
celles is recorded at frequency rank #704, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛl\. cellules is at rank #3,125, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.lyl\.
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 3829, this pair ranks #433,118 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of celles vs cellules
Shared letters: cels. Private to "celles": -. Private to "cellules": u.
"celles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cellules" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "celles" for "cellules" ever safe?
Frequency check: "celles" vs "cellules" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "celles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cellules" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,118 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "celles" and "cellules" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "callas vs celles". 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 #433,118 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.