Which to use
“caries” and “charges” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,190
- “caries” frequency rank
- #2,465
- “charges” frequency rank
- 40655
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caries | charges |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de carie. | Pluriel de charge. |
Where the eye mixes caries and charges
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. caries runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against charges's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between caries and charges
A purely visual mix-up. caries (\ka.ʁi\) and charges (\ʃaʁʒ\) 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 40655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caries is recorded at frequency rank #38,190, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁi\. charges is at rank #2,465, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃaʁʒ\.
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 40655, this pair ranks #238,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caries vs charges
Shared letters: acers. Private to "caries": i. Private to "charges": gh.
"caries" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "charges" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caries" for "charges" ever safe?
Which is more common, "caries" or "charges"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "caries" and "charges" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caries" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "charges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caries" and "charges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caries vs carrez". 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 #238,942 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.