Which to use
“clé” and “clefs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,987
- “clé” frequency rank
- #8,516
- “clefs” frequency rank
- 10503
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clé | clefs |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Pluriel de clef. |
Same sound, different letters: clé vs clefs
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Homophone desk: clé vs clefs
This is the hard kind. clé and clefs are pronounced identically (\kle\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10503, 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\. clefs is at rank #8,516, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kle\.
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 10503, this pair ranks #412,740 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clé vs clefs
Shared letters: cl. Private to "clé": é. Private to "clefs": efs.
"clé" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "clefs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clefs ← cclefs · celfs · cleffs · clefss · clesf · clfes · cllefs · lcefs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clé" for "clefs" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "clé" or "clefs" show up more?
After this comparison
"clé" and "clefs" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "clé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clefs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,740 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clé" and "clefs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs clé". 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 #412,740 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.