chahvsclanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“chah” and “clan” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,782
“chah” frequency rank
#4,412
“clan” frequency rank
52194
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chah clan
Definition Titre des monarques de Perse, puis de l’Iran. Chez les Celtes, tribu formée d’un certain nombre de familles.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
chah
4 ch
clan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chah (\ʃa\) and clan (\klɑ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chah is recorded at frequency rank #47,782, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃa\. clan is at rank #4,412, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klɑ̃\.

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 52194, this pair ranks #149,431 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chah vs clan

Shared letters: ac. Private to "chah": h. Private to "clan": ln.

"chah" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "clan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chahcahh · cchah · chahh · chha · chhah · hcah
  • clancaln · cclan · clann · cllan · clna · lcan

Frequency comparison

chah#47,782
clan#4,412

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chah" and "clan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃa\ versus \klɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chah" or "clan"?
"clan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,412 in our French list, against #47,782 for "chah". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering chah vs clan

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chah” 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