Which to use
“chain” and “chair” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,876
- “chain” frequency rank
- #45,197
- “chair” frequency rank
- 69073
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chain | chair |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Kette, Fessel | Sitzgelegenheit; Sessel, Sitz, Stuhl |
Where the eye mixes chain and chair
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. chain and chair follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: chain vs chair
A purely visual mix-up. chain ([ˈt͡ʃeɪn]) and chair ([tʃeə]) 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 a single letter - n in “chain” becomes r in “chair”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chain is recorded at frequency rank #23,876, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃeɪn]. chair is at rank #45,197, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tʃeə].
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 69073, this pair ranks #487,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chain vs chair
Shared letters: achi. Private to "chain": n. Private to "chair": r.
"chain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "chair" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chain" for "chair" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "chain" or "chair" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chair" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #487,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chain" and "chair" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carr vs chair". 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 #487,889 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.