CharlesvscharterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Charles is a name, charter is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Charles” is a name and “charter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,512
“Charles” frequency rank
#40,460
“charter” frequency rank
43972
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Charles charter
Definition männlicher Vorname der Charterflug (vol charter); das Charterflugzeug (avion charter)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Charles and charter apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Charles
7 ch
charter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Charles is [tʃaːlz] while charter is [ʃaʁ.tɛʁ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43972, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Charles is recorded at frequency rank #3,512, classified as aname, pronounced [tʃaːlz]. charter is at rank #40,460, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃaʁ.tɛʁ].

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 43972, this pair ranks #1,401,171 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Charles vs charter

Shared letters: acehr. Private to "Charles": ls. Private to "charter": t.

"Charles" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "charter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Charlescahrles · ccharles · chalres · charels · charless · charlles · charlse · charrles
  • chartercahrter · ccharter · charetr · charrter · charterr · chartre · chartter · chatrer

Frequency comparison

Charles#3,512
charter#40,460

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Charles" and "charter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Charles" is a name and "charter" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Charles" or "charter"?
"Charles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,512 in our German list, against #40,460 for "charter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Charles vs charter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Charles”; for a noun, it's “charter”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Charles” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list