Which to use
“chaque” is an adjective and “chau” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #210
- “chaque” frequency rank
- #41,178
- “chau” frequency rank
- 41388
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chaque | chau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Déterminant distributif, qui se place toujours avant le nom et n’a pas de pluriel. Se dit d’une personne, d’une chose qui fait partie d’un tout, d’un ensemble. | Froncer. |
Where the eye mixes chaque and chau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: chaque vs chau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chaque is \ʃak\ while chau is \cau˦\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chaque is recorded at frequency rank #210, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃak\. chau is at rank #41,178, tagged as averb, pronounced \cau˦\.
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 41388, this pair ranks #233,444 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chaque vs chau
Shared letters: achu. Private to "chaque": eq. Private to "chau": -.
"chaque" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV · "chau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chaque" and "chau" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "chaque" or "chau"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chaque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #233,444 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chaque" and "chau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chah vs chau". 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 #233,444 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.