cevsCHWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ce is a determiner, CH is a symbol, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ce” is a determiner and “CH” is a symbol - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25
“ce” frequency rank
#3,389
“CH” frequency rank
3414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ce CH
Definition Déterminant utilisé pour mettre en évidence une chose ou une personne dont on a la représentation devant soi. Lorsque l’objet est en nombre multiple ou lorsqu’on veut appuyer encore plus sur ce qu’on veut montrer, on rajoute -ci ou -là (selon la distance) après le nom. Signe distinctif en trafic international des véhicules automobiles immatriculés en Suisse, prescrit dans le cadre de la Convention sur la circulation routière de Genève de 1949 et de la Convention sur la signalisation routière de Vienne de 1968.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ce and CH apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
ce
2 ch
CH

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

ce and CH form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - e in “ce” becomes h in “CH” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ce is recorded at frequency rank #25, classified as adet, pronounced \sə\. CH is at rank #3,389, tagged as asymbol, pronounced voir ces lettres. En français, cela donne.

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 3414, this pair ranks #434,090 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

ce#25
CH#3,389

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ce" and "CH" be used interchangeably?
No, "ce" and "CH" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering ce vs CH

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “ce”; for a symbol, it's “CH”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ce” 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