Which to use
“clés” and “clous” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,666
- “clés” frequency rank
- #12,129
- “clous” frequency rank
- 14795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clés | clous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de clé. | Zone protégée par des clous dans un passage clouté. |
Where the eye mixes clés and clous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. clés runs 4 letters (CCVC) against clous's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses clés with clous
A purely visual mix-up. clés (\kle\) and clous (\klu\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clés is recorded at frequency rank #2,666, classified as anoun, pronounced \kle\. clous is at rank #12,129, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klu\.
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 14795, this pair ranks #395,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clés vs clous
Shared letters: cls. Private to "clés": é. Private to "clous": ou.
"clés" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "clous" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clous ← cclous · cllous · closu · clouss · cluos · colus · lcous
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clés" for "clous" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clés" vs "clous" - 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 "clés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #395,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clés" and "clous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casus vs clous". 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 #395,198 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.