Which to use
“celles” and “colle” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #704
- “celles” frequency rank
- #4,557
- “colle” frequency rank
- 5261
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | celles | colle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de celle. | Matière adhérente qui permet de faire tenir l’un contre l’autre deux objets. |
Where the eye mixes celles and colle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: celles vs colle
A purely visual mix-up. celles (\sɛl\) and colle (\kɔl\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
celles is recorded at frequency rank #704, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛl\. colle is at rank #4,557, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔl\.
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 5261, this pair ranks #429,497 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of celles vs colle
Shared letters: cel. Private to "celles": s. Private to "colle": o.
"celles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "colle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "celles" for "colle" ever safe?
Which is more common, "celles" or "colle"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "celles" and "colle" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "celles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "colle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #429,497 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "celles" and "colle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "colle vs conde". 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 #429,497 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.