Which to use
“clés” and “cubs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,666
- “clés” frequency rank
- #44,966
- “cubs” frequency rank
- 47632
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clés | cubs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de clé. | Pluriel de cub. |
Where the eye mixes clés and cubs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clés and cubs
A purely visual mix-up. clés (\kle\) and cubs (\ˈkʌbz\) 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 47632, 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\. cubs is at rank #44,966, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈkʌbz\.
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 47632, this pair ranks #185,412 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clés vs cubs
Shared letters: cs. Private to "clés": lé. Private to "cubs": bu.
"clés" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "cubs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cubs ← cbus · ccubs · cubbs · cubss · cusb · ucbs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clés" for "cubs" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clés" vs "cubs" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "cubs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #185,412 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clés" and "cubs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCAS vs cubs". 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 #185,412 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.