Which to use
“clés” and “cures” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,666
- “clés” frequency rank
- #30,120
- “cures” frequency rank
- 32786
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clés | cures |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de clé. | Pluriel de cure. |
Where the eye mixes clés and cures
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses clés with cures
A purely visual mix-up. clés (\kle\) and cures (\kyʁ\) 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 32786, 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\. cures is at rank #30,120, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kyʁ\.
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 32786, this pair ranks #294,963 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clés vs cures
Shared letters: cs. Private to "clés": lé. Private to "cures": eru.
"clés" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "cures" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cures ← ccures · cuers · curess · curres · curse · ucres
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clés" and "cures" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clés" or "cures"?
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 "cures" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,963 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clés" and "cures" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courges vs cures". 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 #294,963 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.