Which to use
“chaînes” and “chais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,665
- “chaînes” frequency rank
- #36,299
- “chais” frequency rank
- 39964
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chaînes | chais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de chaîne. | Pluriel de chai (pièce). |
Where the eye mixes chaînes and chais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: chaînes vs chais
A purely visual mix-up. chaînes (\ʃɛn\) and chais (\ʃɛ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chaînes is recorded at frequency rank #3,665, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛn\. chais is at rank #36,299, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛ\.
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 39964, this pair ranks #244,041 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chaînes vs chais
Shared letters: achs. Private to "chaînes": enî. Private to "chais": i.
"chaînes" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "chais" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- chais ← cahis · cchais · chaiss · chasi · chhais · chias · hcais
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chaînes" and "chais" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "chaînes" vs "chais" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "chaînes" and "chais" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chaînes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #244,041 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chaînes" and "chais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chah vs chais". 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 #244,041 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.