classvsclosesTell them apart

Which to use

“class” and “closes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,533
“class” frequency rank
#24,153
“closes” frequency rank
36686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature class closes
Definition Variante orthographique de clas. Féminin pluriel de clos.

Where the eye mixes class and closes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
class
6 ch
closes

Why the eye confuses class with closes

A purely visual mix-up. class (\klas\) and closes (\kloz\) 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 36686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

class is recorded at frequency rank #12,533, classified as anadj, pronounced \klas\. closes is at rank #24,153, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kloz\.

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 36686, this pair ranks #267,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of class vs closes

Shared letters: cls. Private to "class": a. Private to "closes": eo.

"class" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "closes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • classcalss · cclass · clas · cllass · clsas · lcass
  • closesccloses · clloses · cloess · closess · closses · clsoes · colses · lcoses

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "class" and "closes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\klas\ versus \kloz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "class" vs "closes" - which ranks higher?
"class" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,533 in our French list, against #24,153 for "closes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "class" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "closes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #267,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "class" and "closes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "closes vs crosses". 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 #267,836 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list