chairsvschampsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,754
“chairs” frequency rank
#2,263
“champs” frequency rank
39017
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chairs champs
Definition Pluriel de chair. Pluriel de champ.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chairs and champs apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
chairs
6 ch
champs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chairs (\ʃɛʁ\) and champs (\ʃɑ̃\) 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 39017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chairs is recorded at frequency rank #36,754, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛʁ\. champs is at rank #2,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɑ̃\.

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 39017, this pair ranks #251,106 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chairs vs champs

Shared letters: achs. Private to "chairs": ir. Private to "champs": mp.

"chairs" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC  ·  "champs" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chairscahirs · cchairs · chairrs · chairss · chaisr · charis · chhairs · chiars
  • champscahmps · cchamps · chammps · champps · champss · chamsp · chapms · chhamps

Frequency comparison

chairs#36,754
champs#2,263

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chairs" and "champs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃɛʁ\ versus \ʃɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chairs" or "champs"?
"champs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,263 in our French list, against #36,754 for "chairs". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering chairs vs champs

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 “chairs” 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