Français homophones

chaud/chauds/chaux/show/shows

"chaud" is an adjective; "chaux" is a noun - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #101 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "chaud" arrives as an adjective, while "chaux" is a noun. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "chaud" then splits - "chaud" (5 letters) vs "chauds" (6).
Single-letter fork: "chaud" keeps d, "chaux" writes x at letter 5.
No shared spelling stem: "chaud" is 5 letters, "show" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "chaud" is 5 letters, "shows" is 5; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "chau" then splits - "chauds" (6 letters) vs "chaux" (5).
No shared spelling stem: "chauds" is 6 letters, "show" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "chauds" is 6 letters, "shows" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "chaux" is 5 letters, "show" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "chaux" is 5 letters, "shows" is 5; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "show" then splits - "show" (4 letters) vs "shows" (5).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across chaud, chauds, chaux, show, shows: h. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

chaud
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVVC
Inventory acdhu · private acdu
chauds
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVVCC
Inventory acdhsu · private acdsu
chaux
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVVC
Inventory achux · private acux
show
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCVC
Inventory hosw · private osw
shows
5 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCVCC
Inventory hosw · private osw

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "chaud" when you mean: De température plus haute que la normale, de température élevée.
Write "chauds" when you mean: Masculin pluriel de chaud.
Write "chaux" when you mean: Oxyde de calcium, alcalin fort, obtenu par la décarbonatation à haute température, durant un temps long, de roches calcaires (→ voir chau…
Write "show" when you mean: Spectacle.
Write "shows" when you mean: Pluriel de show.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

chaud ← cahud · cchaud · chadu · chaudd · chhaud · chuad
chauds ← cahuds · cchauds · chadus · chaudds · chaudss · chausd
chaux ← cahux · cchaux · chauxx · chaxu · chhaux · chuax
show ← hsow · shhow · showw · shwo · sohw · sshow
shows ← hsows · shhows · shosw · showss · showws · shwos

Each spelling

chaud

adjective · /\ʃo\/ · #1,357 frequency

De température plus haute que la normale, de température élevée.

chauds

adjective · /\ʃo\/ · #8,212 frequency

Masculin pluriel de chaud.

chaux

noun · /\ʃo\/ · #12,530 frequency

Oxyde de calcium, alcalin fort, obtenu par la décarbonatation à haute température, durant un temps long, de roches calcaires (→ voir chaux vive).

show

noun · /\ʃo\/ · #2,852 frequency

Spectacle.

shows

noun · /\ʃo\/ · #17,271 frequency

Pluriel de show.