Which to use
“câble” and “châle” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,849
- “câble” frequency rank
- #33,170
- “châle” frequency rank
- 38019
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | câble | châle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gros cordage formé de l’assemblage de plusieurs torons de chanvre, d’aloès, d’acier, etc. | Cape féminine consistant en un carré de tissu qu'on met sur son dos et ses épaules pour se tenir au chaud. |
Where the eye mixes câble and châle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: câble vs châle
A purely visual mix-up. câble (\kabl\) and châle (\ʃɑl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
câble is recorded at frequency rank #4,849, classified as anoun, pronounced \kabl\. châle is at rank #33,170, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɑl\.
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 38019, this pair ranks #258,290 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of câble vs châle
Shared letters: celâ. Private to "câble": b. Private to "châle": h.
"câble" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "châle" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "câble" for "châle" ever safe?
Which is more common, "câble" or "châle"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "câble" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "châle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,290 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "câble" and "châle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "châle vs chapel". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #258,290 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.