chefvsChefsTell them apart

Which to use

“chef” and “Chefs” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,029
“chef” frequency rank
#8,998
“Chefs” frequency rank
10027
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chef Chefs
Definition gewerblich und versiert kochende Person Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Chef

Where the eye mixes chef and Chefs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
chef
5 ch
Chefs

Look-alike desk: chef vs Chefs

A purely visual mix-up. chef ([ʃɛf]) and Chefs ([ʃɛfs]) 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 extra letter(s) - “chef” sits inside “Chefs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chef is recorded at frequency rank #1,029, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃɛf]. Chefs is at rank #8,998, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃɛfs].

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 10027, this pair ranks #1,977,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chef vs Chefs

Shared letters: cefh. Private to "chef": -. Private to "Chefs": s.

"chef" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Chefs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chefcchef · cehf · cheff · chfe · chhef · hcef
  • Chefscchefs · cehfs · cheffs · chefss · chesf · chfes · chhefs · hcefs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "chef" and "Chefs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃɛf] versus [ʃɛfs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "chef" vs "Chefs" - which ranks higher?
"chef" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,029 in our German list, against #8,998 for "Chefs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "chef" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Chefs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,977,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chef" and "Chefs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Chefs vs crews". 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 #1,977,139 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list