Which to use
“cent” is an adjective and “ciment” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,854
- “cent” frequency rank
- #9,134
- “ciment” frequency rank
- 10988
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cent | ciment |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Quatre-vingt-dix-neuf plus un, soit dix fois dix, correspondant au nombre 100. | Mélange de briques pulvérisées et de chaux dont on faisait un mortier ^([2]). |
Where the eye mixes cent and ciment
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cent vs ciment
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cent is \sɑ̃\ while ciment is \si.mɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10988, 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\. ciment is at rank #9,134, tagged as anoun, pronounced \si.mɑ̃\.
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 10988, this pair ranks #410,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cent vs ciment
Shared letters: cent. Private to "cent": -. Private to "ciment": im.
"cent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "ciment" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cent" for "ciment" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cent" or "ciment"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cent" and "ciment" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ciment" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #410,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cent" and "ciment" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chient vs ciment". 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 #410,888 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.