Which to use
“censé” is an adjective and “chose” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,595
- “censé” frequency rank
- #158
- “chose” frequency rank
- 3753
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | censé | chose |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Supposé, réputé, considéré (comme). | Objet, idée ou abstraction quelconque, sans pouvoir, vouloir, ou devoir l’identifier ou la nommer. Note d’usage : La signification du mot chose se déduit par la manière dont on l’emploie dans la phrase, où il remplace ce qu’il n’est pas possible (ou pas souhaitable) de nommer. Peut aussi remplacer un ensemble d’objets inanimés (ou d’idées) qu’on devine par le contexte. |
Where the eye mixes censé and chose
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between censé and chose
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: censé is \sɑ̃.se\ while chose is \ʃoz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3753, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
censé is recorded at frequency rank #3,595, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃.se\. chose is at rank #158, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃoz\.
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 3753, this pair ranks #433,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of censé vs chose
Shared letters: ces. Private to "censé": né. Private to "chose": ho.
"censé" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "chose" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- chose ← cchose · chhose · choes · chosse · chsoe · cohse · hcose
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "censé" for "chose" ever safe?
Which is more common, "censé" or "chose"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "censé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chose" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "censé" and "chose" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "censé vs conde". 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 #433,271 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.