centvsceseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cent is a adjective, cese is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cent” is an adjective and “cese” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,854
“cent” frequency rank
#47,212
“cese” frequency rank
49066
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cent cese
Definition Quatre-vingt-dix-neuf plus un, soit dix fois dix, correspondant au nombre 100. Cessation, action de cesser.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
cent
4 ch
cese

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cent is \sɑ̃\ while cese is \ˈθese\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49066, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cent is recorded at frequency rank #1,854, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃\. cese is at rank #47,212, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈθese\.

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 49066, this pair ranks #173,748 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cent vs cese

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cent": nt. Private to "cese": s.

"cent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "cese" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • centccent · cennt · centt · cetn · cnet · ecnt
  • ceseccese · cees · csee · ecse

Frequency comparison

cent#1,854
cese#47,212

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cent" and "cese" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cent" is an adjective and "cese" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cent" or "cese"?
"cent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,854 in our French list, against #47,212 for "cese". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cent vs cese

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “cent”; for a noun, it's “cese”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cent” 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