Which to use
“chaînon” and “chalon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,337
- “chaînon” frequency rank
- #18,680
- “chalon” frequency rank
- 62017
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chaînon | chalon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Anneau d’une chaîne. | Grand filet que l'on traînait dans les rivières avec deux bateaux. |
Where the eye mixes chaînon and chalon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between chaînon and chalon
A purely visual mix-up. chaînon (\ʃɛ.nɔ̃\) and chalon (\ʃa.lɔ̃\) 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 62017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chaînon is recorded at frequency rank #43,337, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛ.nɔ̃\. chalon is at rank #18,680, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃa.lɔ̃\.
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 62017, this pair ranks #89,283 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chaînon vs chalon
Shared letters: achno. Private to "chaînon": î. Private to "chalon": l.
"chaînon" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "chalon" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- chalon ← cahlon · cchalon · challon · chalno · chalonn · chaoln · chhalon · chlaon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chaînon" for "chalon" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "chaînon" or "chalon" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "chaînon" and "chalon" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chaînon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chalon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,283 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chaînon" and "chalon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chaînon vs chiron". 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 #89,283 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.