chainevschaseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,060
“chaine” frequency rank
#15,831
“chase” frequency rank
21891
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chaine chase
Definition Variante orthographique de chaîne. Poursuite, suite, chasse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chaine and chase apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
chaine
5 ch
chase

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chaine (\ʃɛn\) and chase (\tʃeɪs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21891, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chaine is recorded at frequency rank #6,060, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛn\. chase is at rank #15,831, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tʃeɪs\.

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 21891, this pair ranks #360,892 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chaine vs chase

Shared letters: aceh. Private to "chaine": in. Private to "chase": s.

"chaine" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "chase" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chainecahine · cchaine · chaien · chainne · chanie · chhaine · chiane · hcaine
  • chasecahse · cchase · chaes · chhase · chsae · hcase

Frequency comparison

chaine#6,060
chase#15,831

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chaine" and "chase" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃɛn\ versus \tʃeɪs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chaine" or "chase"?
"chaine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,060 in our French list, against #15,831 for "chase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chaine vs chase

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 “chaine” 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