Which to use
“citée” is a verb and “criée” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,448
- “citée” frequency rank
- #37,260
- “criée” frequency rank
- 46708
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | citée | criée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin singulier du verbe citer. | Proclamation pour annoncer la vente des biens en justice. |
Where the eye mixes citée and criée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. citée (CVCVV) and criée (CCVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses citée with criée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: citée is \si.te\ while criée is \kʁi.je\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
citée is recorded at frequency rank #9,448, classified as averb, pronounced \si.te\. criée is at rank #37,260, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁi.je\.
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 46708, this pair ranks #192,762 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of citée vs criée
Shared letters: ceié. Private to "citée": t. Private to "criée": r.
"citée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "criée" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "citée" and "criée" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "citée" or "criée"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "citée" and "criée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "citée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "criée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #192,762 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "citée" and "criée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calée vs criée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #192,762 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.