Which to use
“cens” is a noun and “ces” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,698
- “cens” frequency rank
- #74
- “ces” frequency rank
- 39772
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cens | ces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Redevance de toute nature que certains biens devaient annuellement au seigneur du fief dont ils relevaient. | Pluriel de ce et cette. |
Where the eye mixes cens and ces
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cens vs ces
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cens is \sɑ̃s\ 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 (noun vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cens is recorded at frequency rank #39,698, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃s\. 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 39772, this pair ranks #245,504 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cens vs ces
Shared letters: ces. Private to "cens": n. Private to "ces": -.
"cens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "ces" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cens ← ccens · cenns · censs · cesn · ecns
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cens" and "ces" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "cens" or "ces" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cens" and "ces" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #245,504 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cens" and "ces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cens vs CNE". 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 #245,504 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.