Which to use
“clause” is a noun and “close” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,164
- “clause” frequency rank
- #10,842
- “close” frequency rank
- 18006
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clause | close |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Disposition particulière faisant partie d’un traité, d’un contrat, d’un arrêté, d’une loi ou de tout autre acte public ou particulier, etc. | Féminin singulier de clos. |
Same sound, different letters: clause vs close
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Homophone desk: clause vs close
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: clause and close carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kloz\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clause is recorded at frequency rank #7,164, classified as anoun, pronounced \kloz\. close is at rank #10,842, 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 18006, this pair ranks #380,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clause vs close
Shared letters: cels. Private to "clause": au. Private to "close": o.
"clause" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "close" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clause" and "close" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "clause" vs "close" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "clause" / "close". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "clause" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "close" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #380,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clause" and "close" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cese vs close". 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 #380,438 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.