Which to use
“CFF” and “clef” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,639
- “CFF” frequency rank
- #6,063
- “clef” frequency rank
- 52702
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | CFF | clef |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Société anonyme (détenue à 100 % par la Confédération suisse) exploitant les chemins de fer suisses. | Variante orthographique de clé. |
Where the eye mixes CFF and clef
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses CFF with clef
A purely visual mix-up. CFF (\se.ɛf.ɛf\) and clef (\kle\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
CFF is recorded at frequency rank #46,639, classified as anoun, pronounced \se.ɛf.ɛf\. clef is at rank #6,063, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kle\.
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 52702, this pair ranks #145,868 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of CFF vs clef
Shared letters: cf. Private to "CFF": -. Private to "clef": el.
"CFF" · 3 letters · shape CCC · "clef" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clef ← cclef · celf · cleff · clfe · cllef · lcef
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "CFF" and "clef" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "CFF" or "clef" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "CFF" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clef" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #145,868 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "CFF" and "clef" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs CFF". 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 #145,868 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.