Which to use
“cerfs” is a noun and “chères” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,665
- “cerfs” frequency rank
- #9,289
- “chères” frequency rank
- 29954
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cerfs | chères |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de cerf. | Féminin pluriel de cher. |
Where the eye mixes cerfs and chères
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cerfs runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against chères's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cerfs and chères
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cerfs is \sɛʁ\ while chères is [ʃɛʁ]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cerfs is recorded at frequency rank #20,665, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛʁ\. chères is at rank #9,289, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃɛʁ].
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 29954, this pair ranks #313,413 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cerfs vs chères
Shared letters: cers. Private to "cerfs": f. Private to "chères": hè.
"cerfs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "chères" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cerfs ← ccerfs · cefrs · cerffs · cerfss · cerrfs · cersf · crefs · ecrfs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cerfs" for "chères" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cerfs" or "chères"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cerfs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,413 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cerfs" and "chères" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cer vs cerfs". 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 #313,413 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.