chairesvschèresWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: chaires is a noun, chères is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“chaires” is a noun and “chères” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,196
“chaires” frequency rank
#9,289
“chères” frequency rank
47485
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chaires chères
Definition Pluriel de chaire. Féminin pluriel de cher.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chaires and chères apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
chaires
6 ch
chères

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: chaires and chères carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʃɛʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47485, 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\. chères is at rank #9,289, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃɛʁ].

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 47485, this pair ranks #186,581 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chaires vs chères

Shared letters: cehrs. Private to "chaires": ai. Private to "chères": è.

"chaires" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "chères" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chairescchaires · chairess · chairres · chairse · charies · chhaires · chiares · hcaires

Frequency comparison

chaires#38,196
chères#9,289

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chaires" and "chères" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chaires" is a noun and "chères" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "chaires" or "chères"?
"chères" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,289 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 chères

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “chaires”; for an adjective, it's “chères”.
  • 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