Which to use
“chanvre” and “chèvre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,388
- “chanvre” frequency rank
- #8,214
- “chèvre” frequency rank
- 28602
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chanvre | chèvre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plante herbacée, dioïque, dont les fibres de la tige sont utilisés dans la conception textile et dont les inflorescences ont des propriétés psychoactives. | Genre de mammifère de l’ordre des ruminants, à cornes creuses et persistantes et à menton garni d’une barbe. |
Where the eye mixes chanvre and chèvre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between chanvre and chèvre
A purely visual mix-up. chanvre (\ʃɑ̃vʁ\) and chèvre (\ʃɛvʁ\) 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 28602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chanvre is recorded at frequency rank #20,388, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɑ̃vʁ\. chèvre is at rank #8,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛvʁ\.
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 28602, this pair ranks #321,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chanvre vs chèvre
Shared letters: cehrv. Private to "chanvre": an. Private to "chèvre": è.
"chanvre" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV · "chèvre" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- chanvre ← cahnvre · cchanvre · channvre · chanrve · chanver · chanvrre · chanvvre · chavnre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chanvre" for "chèvre" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "chanvre" or "chèvre" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "chanvre" and "chèvre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chanvre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chèvre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chanvre" and "chèvre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chantres vs chanvre". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #321,780 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.