Which to use
“caïds” and “chais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,498
- “caïds” frequency rank
- #36,299
- “chais” frequency rank
- 81797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caïds | chais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de caïd. | Pluriel de chai (pièce). |
Where the eye mixes caïds and chais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. caïds (CVCCC) and chais (CCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: caïds vs chais
A purely visual mix-up. caïds (\ka.id\) and chais (\ʃɛ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caïds is recorded at frequency rank #45,498, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.id\. chais is at rank #36,299, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛ\.
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 81797, this pair ranks #18,021 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of caïds vs chais
Shared letters: acs. Private to "caïds": dï. Private to "chais": hi.
"caïds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "chais" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- chais ← cahis · cchais · chaiss · chasi · chhais · chias · hcais
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "caïds" and "chais" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "caïds" or "chais"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "caïds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,021 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caïds" and "chais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caïds vs cakes". 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 #18,021 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.