capavschapeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“capa” and “chape” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,218
“capa” frequency rank
#35,422
“chape” frequency rank
72640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capa chape
Definition Condensateur. Sorte de manteau long, sans plis et agrafé par devant, allant jusqu’aux talons, que portent l’évêque, le célébrant, les chantres, etc. durant l’office ; se dit aussi du grand manteau de drap ou de serge des chanoines. On nomme aussi ce vêtement un pluvial.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set capa and chape apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
capa
5 ch
chape

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. capa (\ka.pa\) and chape (\ʃap\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capa is recorded at frequency rank #37,218, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.pa\. chape is at rank #35,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃap\.

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 72640, this pair ranks #43,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of capa vs chape

Shared letters: acp. Private to "capa": -. Private to "chape": eh.

"capa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "chape" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capaacpa · caap · cappa · ccapa · cpaa
  • chapecahpe · cchape · chappe · chhape · chpae · hcape

Frequency comparison

capa#37,218
chape#35,422

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "capa" and "chape" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ka.pa\ versus \ʃap\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "capa" or "chape"?
"chape" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,422 in our French list, against #37,218 for "capa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering capa vs chape

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “capa” 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