chastevschoseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: chaste is a adjective, chose is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“chaste” is an adjective and “chose” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,791
“chaste” frequency rank
#158
“chose” frequency rank
42949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chaste chose
Definition Qui s'abstient des plaisirs de la chair. Objet, idée ou abstraction quelconque, sans pouvoir, vouloir, ou devoir l’identifier ou la nommer. Note d’usage : La signification du mot chose se déduit par la manière dont on l’emploie dans la phrase, où il remplace ce qu’il n’est pas possible (ou pas souhaitable) de nommer. Peut aussi remplacer un ensemble d’objets inanimés (ou d’idées) qu’on devine par le contexte.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chaste and chose apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
chaste
5 ch
chose

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chaste is \ʃast\ while chose is \ʃoz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chaste is recorded at frequency rank #42,791, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃast\. chose is at rank #158, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃoz\.

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 42949, this pair ranks #221,722 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chaste vs chose

Shared letters: cehs. Private to "chaste": at. Private to "chose": o.

"chaste" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "chose" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chastecahste · cchaste · chaset · chasste · chastte · chatse · chhaste · chsate
  • chosecchose · chhose · choes · chosse · chsoe · cohse · hcose

Frequency comparison

chaste#42,791
chose#158

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chaste" and "chose" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chaste" is an adjective and "chose" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "chaste" or "chose"?
"chose" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #158 in our French list, against #42,791 for "chaste". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering chaste vs chose

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “chaste”; for a noun, it's “chose”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chaste” 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