Which to use
“kel” is a verb and “quels” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,370
- “kel” frequency rank
- #1,933
- “quels” frequency rank
- 43303
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kel | quels |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent du verbe ké (« attendre »). | Masculin pluriel de quel. |
Same sound, different letters: kel vs quels
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters. kel runs 3 letters (CVC) against quels's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - kel and quels
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: kel and quels carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kɛl\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43303, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kel is recorded at frequency rank #41,370, classified as averb, pronounced \kɛl\. quels is at rank #1,933, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɛl\.
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 43303, this pair ranks #219,120 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kel vs quels
Shared letters: el. Private to "kel": k. Private to "quels": qsu.
"kel" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "quels" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- quels ← qeuls · qquels · quells · quelss · quesl · qules · uqels
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kel" for "quels" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kel" vs "quels" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
"kel" and "quels" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "kel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #219,120 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kel" and "quels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kel vs ky". 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 #219,120 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.