capteursvschanteursTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,534
“capteurs” frequency rank
#8,970
“chanteurs” frequency rank
20504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capteurs chanteurs
Definition Masculin pluriel de capteur. Masculin pluriel de chanteur.

Where the eye mixes capteurs and chanteurs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
capteurs
9 ch
chanteurs

Visual trap between capteurs and chanteurs

A purely visual mix-up. capteurs (\kap.tœʁ\) and chanteurs (\ʃɑ̃.tœʁ\) 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 20504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capteurs is recorded at frequency rank #11,534, classified as anadj, pronounced \kap.tœʁ\. chanteurs is at rank #8,970, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʃɑ̃.tœʁ\.

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 20504, this pair ranks #367,939 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of capteurs vs chanteurs

Shared letters: acerstu. Private to "capteurs": p. Private to "chanteurs": hn.

"capteurs" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC  ·  "chanteurs" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capteursacpteurs · capeturs · cappteurs · capterus · capteurrs · capteurss · capteusr · captteurs
  • chanteurscahnteurs · cchanteurs · chaneturs · channteurs · chanterus · chanteurrs · chanteurss · chanteusr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "capteurs" for "chanteurs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kap.tœʁ\ versus \ʃɑ̃.tœʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "capteurs" or "chanteurs"?
"chanteurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,970 in our French list, against #11,534 for "capteurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "capteurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chanteurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #367,939 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capteurs" and "chanteurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "campeurs vs capteurs". 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 #367,939 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list