charitévscharterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,379
“charité” frequency rank
#36,757
“charter” frequency rank
43136
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature charité charter
Definition Vertu théologale, amour que l’on ressent pour Dieu, pour le bien et pour son prochain. Avion affrété pour transporter un groupe de personnes à un tarif moindre que celui des lignes ordinaires.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set charité and charter apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
charité
7 ch
charter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. charité (\ʃa.ʁi.te\) and charter (\ʃaʁ.tɛʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

charité is recorded at frequency rank #6,379, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃa.ʁi.te\. charter is at rank #36,757, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃaʁ.tɛʁ\.

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 43136, this pair ranks #220,350 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of charité vs charter

Shared letters: achrt. Private to "charité": . Private to "charter": e.

"charité" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "charter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chartercahrter · ccharter · charetr · charrter · charterr · chartre · chartter · chatrer

Frequency comparison

charité#6,379
charter#36,757

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "charité" and "charter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃa.ʁi.te\ versus \ʃaʁ.tɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "charité" or "charter"?
"charité" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,379 in our French list, against #36,757 for "charter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering charité vs charter

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 “charité” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list