clausevsculasseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,164
“clause” frequency rank
#32,364
“culasse” frequency rank
39528
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clause culasse
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. Partie de derrière d’une arme à feu, canon, fusil, revolver, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set clause and culasse apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
clause
7 ch
culasse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. clause (\kloz\) and culasse (\ky.las\) 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 39528, 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\. culasse is at rank #32,364, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ky.las\.

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 39528, this pair ranks #247,283 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of clause vs culasse

Shared letters: acelsu. Private to "clause": -. Private to "culasse": -.

"clause" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "culasse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clausecaluse · cclause · clasue · claues · clausse · cllause · cluase · lcause
  • culassecculasse · cluasse · cualsse · culase · culases · cullasse · culsase · uclasse

Frequency comparison

clause#7,164
culasse#32,364

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clause" and "culasse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kloz\ versus \ky.las\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "clause" or "culasse"?
"clause" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,164 in our French list, against #32,364 for "culasse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering clause vs culasse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “clause” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list