ces vs codés, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ces” is a determiner and “codés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#74
“ces” frequency rank: #47,232
“codés” frequency rank: 47306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ces	codés
Definition	Pluriel de ce et cette.	Masculin pluriel de codé.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

ces

5 ch

codés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ces is \se\ while codés is \kɔ.de\. 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 (determiner vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ces is recorded at frequency rank #74, classified as adet, pronounced \se\. codés is at rank #47,232, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.de\.

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 47306, this pair ranks #187,996 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ces vs codés

Shared letters: cs. Private to "ces": e. Private to "codés": doé.

"ces" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "codés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequency comparison

ces#74

codés#47,232

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ces" and "codés" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ces" is a determiner and "codés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ces" or "codés"?

"ces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #74 in our French list, against #47,232 for "codés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ces vs codés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “ces”; for an adjective, it's “codés”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ces” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable