Which to use
“clé” and “CNE” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,987
- “clé” frequency rank
- #47,795
- “CNE” frequency rank
- 49782
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clé | CNE |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Contrat nouvelle embauche, type de contrat de travail en France. |
Where the eye mixes clé and CNE
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. clé and CNE follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: clé vs CNE
A purely visual mix-up. clé (\kle\) and CNE (\se.ɛn.ø\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49782, 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\. CNE is at rank #47,795, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.ɛn.ø\.
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 49782, this pair ranks #167,890 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clé vs CNE
Shared letters: c. Private to "clé": lé. Private to "CNE": en.
"clé" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "CNE" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clé" for "CNE" ever safe?
Which is more common, "clé" or "CNE"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "clé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "CNE" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #167,890 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clé" and "CNE" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CNE vs conde". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #167,890 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.