clichésvsclocheWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: clichés is a adjective, cloche is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“clichés” is an adjective and “cloche” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,477
“clichés” frequency rank
#6,690
“cloche” frequency rank
13167
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clichés cloche
Definition Masculin pluriel de cliché. Instrument fait de métal, ordinairement de bronze, creux, ouvert, qui va en s’élargissant par en bas et dont on tire du son au moyen d’un battant suspendu à l’intérieur ou à l’aide d’un marteau extérieur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set clichés and cloche apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
clichés
6 ch
cloche

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clichés is \kli.ʃe\ while cloche is \klɔʃ\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13167, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clichés is recorded at frequency rank #6,477, classified as anadj, pronounced \kli.ʃe\. cloche is at rank #6,690, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klɔʃ\.

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 13167, this pair ranks #402,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of clichés vs cloche

Shared letters: chl. Private to "clichés": isé. Private to "cloche": eo.

"clichés" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "cloche" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clocheccloche · clcohe · clloche · clocche · cloceh · clochhe · clohce · colche

Frequency comparison

clichés#6,477
cloche#6,690

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clichés" and "cloche" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "clichés" is an adjective and "cloche" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "clichés" or "cloche"?
"clichés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,477 in our French list, against #6,690 for "cloche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering clichés vs cloche

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “clichés”; for a noun, it's “cloche”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “clichés” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list