chartervschesterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,757
“charter” frequency rank
#24,145
“chester” frequency rank
60902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature charter chester
Definition Avion affrété pour transporter un groupe de personnes à un tarif moindre que celui des lignes ordinaires. Fromage cru anglais, salé, à pâte ferme et de forme cylindrique, fabriqué à partir du lait de vache dans le comté de Chester.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
charter
7 ch
chester

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. charter (\ʃaʁ.tɛʁ\) and chester (\ʃɛs.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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

charter is recorded at frequency rank #36,757, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃaʁ.tɛʁ\. chester is at rank #24,145, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛs.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 60902, this pair ranks #95,192 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of charter vs chester

Shared letters: cehrt. Private to "charter": a. Private to "chester": s.

"charter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "chester" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chartercahrter · ccharter · charetr · charrter · charterr · chartre · chartter · chatrer
  • chestercchester · cehster · chesetr · chesster · chesterr · chestre · chestter · chetser

Frequency comparison

charter#36,757
chester#24,145

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "charter" and "chester" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃaʁ.tɛʁ\ versus \ʃɛs.tɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "charter" or "chester"?
"chester" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,145 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 charter vs chester

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 “charter” 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