Which to use
“clémence” is a noun and “clément” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,743
- “clémence” frequency rank
- #5,434
- “clément” frequency rank
- 18177
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clémence | clément |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vertu qui consiste à pardonner les offenses et à modérer les châtiments en parlant de ceux qui disposent de l’autorité souveraine et par extension, de toute personne ayant un certain pouvoir. | Qui pratique la clémence. |
Where the eye mixes clémence and clément
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. clémence runs 8 letters (CCVCVCCV) against clément's 7 (CCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses clémence with clément
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clémence is \kle.mɑ̃s\ while clément is \kle.mɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clémence is recorded at frequency rank #12,743, classified as anoun, pronounced \kle.mɑ̃s\. clément is at rank #5,434, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kle.mɑ̃\.
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 18177, this pair ranks #379,617 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clémence vs clément
Shared letters: celmné. Private to "clémence": -. Private to "clément": t.
"clémence" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "clément" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clémence" for "clément" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clémence" vs "clément" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "clémence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clément" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #379,617 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clémence" and "clément" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clémence vs clémente". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #379,617 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.