champsvschapeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,263
“champs” frequency rank
#35,422
“chape” frequency rank
37685
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature champs chape
Definition Pluriel de champ. Sorte de manteau long, sans plis et agrafé par devant, allant jusqu’aux talons, que portent l’évêque, le célébrant, les chantres, etc. durant l’office ; se dit aussi du grand manteau de drap ou de serge des chanoines. On nomme aussi ce vêtement un pluvial.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
champs
5 ch
chape

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. champs (\ʃɑ̃\) and chape (\ʃap\) 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 37685, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

champs is recorded at frequency rank #2,263, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɑ̃\. chape is at rank #35,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃap\.

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 37685, this pair ranks #260,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of champs vs chape

Shared letters: achp. Private to "champs": ms. Private to "chape": e.

"champs" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "chape" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • champscahmps · cchamps · chammps · champps · champss · chamsp · chapms · chhamps
  • chapecahpe · cchape · chappe · chhape · chpae · hcape

Frequency comparison

champs#2,263
chape#35,422

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "champs" and "chape" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃɑ̃\ versus \ʃap\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "champs" or "chape"?
"champs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,263 in our French list, against #35,422 for "chape". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering champs vs chape

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 “champs” 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