chairesvschaisesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,196
“chaires” frequency rank
#9,130
“chaises” frequency rank
47326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chaires chaises
Definition Pluriel de chaire. Pluriel de chaise.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chaires and chaises apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
chaires
7 ch
chaises

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chaires (\ʃɛʁ\) 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 differ by a single letter - r in “chaires” becomes s in “chaises”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chaires is recorded at frequency rank #38,196, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛʁ\. 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 47326, this pair ranks #187,834 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chaires vs chaises

Shared letters: acehis. Private to "chaires": r. Private to "chaises": -.

"chaires" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "chaises" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chairescchaires · chairess · chairres · chairse · charies · chhaires · chiares · hcaires
  • chaisescahises · cchaises · chaiess · chaisess · chaisses · chasies · chhaises · chiases

Frequency comparison

chaires#38,196
chaises#9,130

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chaires" and "chaises" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃɛʁ\ versus \ʃɛz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chaires" or "chaises"?
"chaises" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,130 in our French list, against #38,196 for "chaires". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chaires vs chaises

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 “chaires” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list