Which to use
“clefs” and “clés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,516
- “clefs” frequency rank
- #2,666
- “clés” frequency rank
- 11182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clefs | clés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de clef. | Pluriel de clé. |
Same sound, different letters: clefs vs clés
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - clefs and clés
This is the hard kind. clefs and clés 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clefs is recorded at frequency rank #8,516, classified as anoun, pronounced \kle\. clés is at rank #2,666, 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 11182, this pair ranks #410,151 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clefs vs clés
Shared letters: cls. Private to "clefs": ef. Private to "clés": é.
"clefs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "clés" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clefs ← cclefs · celfs · cleffs · clefss · clesf · clfes · cllefs · lcefs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clefs" for "clés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clefs" vs "clés" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "clefs" / "clés". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "clefs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #410,151 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clefs" and "clés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs clés". 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 #410,151 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.