céda vs cha, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“céda” is a verb and “cha” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,740
“céda” frequency rank: #12,331
“cha” frequency rank: 51071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	céda	cha
Definition	Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe céder.	Vingt-sixième lettre de l’alphabet cyrillique, ш.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set céda and cha apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

céda

3 ch

cha

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: céda is \se.da\ while cha is \ʃa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

céda is recorded at frequency rank #38,740, classified as averb, pronounced \se.da\. cha is at rank #12,331, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃa\.

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 51071, this pair ranks #157,808 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of céda vs cha

Shared letters: ac. Private to "céda": dé. Private to "cha": h.

"céda" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cha" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequency comparison

céda#38,740

cha#12,331

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "céda" and "cha" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "céda" is a verb and "cha" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "céda" or "cha"?

"cha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,331 in our French list, against #38,740 for "céda". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering céda vs cha

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “céda”; for a noun, it's “cha”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “céda” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable