Which to use
“char” and “chats” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,934
- “char” frequency rank
- #4,055
- “chats” frequency rank
- 10989
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | char | chats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chariot élevé. | Pluriel de chat (animal). |
Where the eye mixes char and chats
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. char runs 4 letters (CCVC) against chats's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses char with chats
A purely visual mix-up. char (\ʃaʁ\) and chats (\ʃa\) 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 10989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
char is recorded at frequency rank #6,934, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃaʁ\. chats is at rank #4,055, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃa\.
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 10989, this pair ranks #410,883 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of char vs chats
Shared letters: ach. Private to "char": r. Private to "chats": st.
"char" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "chats" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "char" for "chats" ever safe?
Which is more common, "char" or "chats"?
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 "char" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #410,883 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "char" and "chats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cedar vs char". 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 #410,883 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.