Which to use
“chaînes” and “chances” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,665
- “chaînes” frequency rank
- #2,310
- “chances” frequency rank
- 5975
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chaînes | chances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de chaîne. | Pluriel de chance. |
Where the eye mixes chaînes and chances
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: chaînes vs chances
A purely visual mix-up. chaînes (\ʃɛn\) and chances (\ʃɑ̃s\) 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 5975, 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\. chances is at rank #2,310, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɑ̃s\.
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 5975, this pair ranks #427,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chaînes vs chances
Shared letters: acehns. Private to "chaînes": î. Private to "chances": -.
"chaînes" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "chances" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- chances ← cahnces · cchances · chacnes · chancces · chancess · chancse · chanecs · channces
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chaînes" for "chances" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "chaînes" or "chances" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chaînes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #427,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chaînes" and "chances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chances vs chantres". 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 #427,527 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.