Which to use
“cité” is a noun and “citées” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,224
- “cité” frequency rank
- #13,541
- “citées” frequency rank
- 14765
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cité | citées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ville, surtout quand on veut en faire ressortir l’importance. | Participe passé féminin pluriel du verbe citer. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cité and citées apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: cité and citées carry the same recorded pronunciation, \si.te\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cité” sits inside “citées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14765, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cité is recorded at frequency rank #1,224, classified as anoun, pronounced \si.te\. citées is at rank #13,541, tagged as averb, pronounced \si.te\.
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 14765, this pair ranks #395,311 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cité vs citées
Shared letters: cité. Private to "cité": -. Private to "citées": es.
"cité" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "citées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cité" and "citées" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cité" or "citées"?
Remembering cité vs citées
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “cité”; for a verb, it's “citées”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cité” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable