Which to use
“cesser” and “cessez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,219
- “cesser” frequency rank
- #9,129
- “cessez” frequency rank
- 14348
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cesser | cessez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Discontinuer ; arrêter ; finir ; interrompre ; terminer. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe cesser. |
Where the eye mixes cesser and cessez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cesser and cessez follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between cesser and cessez
A purely visual mix-up. cesser (\se.se\) and cessez (\sɛ.se\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - r in “cesser” becomes z in “cessez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cesser is recorded at frequency rank #5,219, classified as averb, pronounced \se.se\. cessez is at rank #9,129, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɛ.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 14348, this pair ranks #397,079 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cesser vs cessez
Shared letters: ces. Private to "cesser": r. Private to "cessez": z.
"cesser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cessez" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cesser" for "cessez" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cesser" or "cessez"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cesser" and "cessez" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cesser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cessez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,079 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cesser" and "cessez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cédez vs cessez". 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 #397,079 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.