chairs vs chère, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#36,754
“chairs” frequency rank: #2,764
“chère” frequency rank: 39518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	chairs	chère
Definition	Pluriel de chair.	Personne considérée comme chère, qui est tenu avec une affectueuse haute estime ou, par ironie, à qui est adressée une forme de dédain.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chairs and chère apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

chairs

5 ch

chère

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. chairs and chère are pronounced identically (\ʃɛʁ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39518, 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\. chère is at rank #2,764, tagged as anoun, 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 39518, this pair ranks #247,357 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chairs vs chère

Shared letters: chr. Private to "chairs": ais. Private to "chère": eè.

"chairs" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "chère" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

chairs ← cahirs · cchairs · chairrs · chairss · chaisr · charis · chhairs · chiars

Frequency comparison

chairs#36,754

chère#2,764

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chairs" and "chère" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\ʃɛʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "chairs" or "chère"?

"chère" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,764 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 chère

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
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