cervsCSVWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“cer” and “CSV” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,052
“cer” frequency rank
#42,263
“CSV” frequency rank
88315
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cer CSV
Definition Ciel. Format des données dans lequel les valeurs en texte sont séparées par des virgules.

Where the eye mixes cer and CSV

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. cer (CVC) and CSV (CCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
cer
3 ch
CSV

Why the eye confuses cer with CSV

A purely visual mix-up. cer (\ˈʧeɾ\) and CSV (\se.ɛs.ve\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cer is recorded at frequency rank #46,052, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈʧeɾ\. CSV is at rank #42,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.ɛs.ve\.

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 88315, this pair ranks #7,159 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cer vs CSV

Shared letters: c. Private to "cer": er. Private to "CSV": sv.

"cer" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "CSV" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cer" for "CSV" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ˈʧeɾ\ versus \se.ɛs.ve\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "cer" or "CSV" show up more?
"CSV" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,263 in our French list, against #46,052 for "cer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "cer" and "CSV" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "CSV" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,159 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cer" and "CSV" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cer vs ciro". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #7,159 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list