Which to use
“clé” is a noun and “clean” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,987
- “clé” frequency rank
- #11,931
- “clean” frequency rank
- 13918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clé | clean |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument de métal que l’on introduit dans une serrure pour ouvrir ou fermer un accès. Ancienne clé à panneton que l'on place et fait tourner dans la serrure d'une porte, d'un coffre, etc. | Propre, sans saleté. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set clé and clean apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
clé and clean form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clé is recorded at frequency rank #1,987, classified as anoun, pronounced \kle\. clean is at rank #11,931, tagged as anadj, pronounced \klin\.
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 13918, this pair ranks #398,965 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clé" and "clean" be used interchangeably?
Remembering clé vs clean
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “clé”; for an adjective, it's “clean”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “clé” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable