Which to use
“clés” and “colts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,666
- “clés” frequency rank
- #43,350
- “colts” frequency rank
- 46016
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clés | colts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de clé. | Pluriel de colt. |
Where the eye mixes clés and colts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clés and colts
A purely visual mix-up. clés (\kle\) and colts (\kɔlt\) 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 46016, 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\. colts is at rank #43,350, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔlt\.
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 46016, this pair ranks #198,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clés vs colts
Shared letters: cls. Private to "clés": é. Private to "colts": ot.
"clés" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "colts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- colts ← ccolts · clots · collts · colst · coltss · coltts · cotls · oclts
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clés" and "colts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clés" or "colts"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "clés" and "colts" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "colts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clés" and "colts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "colla vs colts". 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 #198,271 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.