Which to use
“chaînes” and “chaises” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,665
- “chaînes” frequency rank
- #9,130
- “chaises” frequency rank
- 12795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chaînes | chaises |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de chaîne. | Pluriel de chaise. |
Where the eye mixes chaînes and chaises
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between chaînes and chaises
A purely visual mix-up. chaînes (\ʃɛn\) and chaises (\ʃɛz\) 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 12795, 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\. chaises is at rank #9,130, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛz\.
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 12795, this pair ranks #403,720 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chaînes vs chaises
Shared letters: acehs. Private to "chaînes": nî. Private to "chaises": i.
"chaînes" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "chaises" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- chaises ← cahises · cchaises · chaiess · chaisess · chaisses · chasies · chhaises · chiases
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chaînes" for "chaises" ever safe?
Frequency check: "chaînes" vs "chaises" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "chaînes" and "chaises" 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 "chaises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,720 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chaînes" and "chaises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chaises vs chassées". 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 #403,720 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.