chattesvschaudesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,481
“chattes” frequency rank
#10,124
“chaudes” frequency rank
38605
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chattes chaudes
Definition Pluriel de chatte. Féminin pluriel de chaud.

Where the eye mixes chattes and chaudes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. chattes (CCVCCVC) and chaudes (CCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
chattes
7 ch
chaudes

Why the eye confuses chattes with chaudes

A purely visual mix-up. chattes (\ʃat\) and chaudes (\ʃod\) 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 38605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chattes is recorded at frequency rank #28,481, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃat\. chaudes is at rank #10,124, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʃod\.

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 38605, this pair ranks #254,100 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chattes vs chaudes

Shared letters: acehs. Private to "chattes": t. Private to "chaudes": du.

"chattes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "chaudes" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chattescahttes · cchattes · chates · chatets · chattess · chattse · chhattes · chtates
  • chaudescahudes · cchaudes · chadues · chauddes · chaudess · chaudse · chaueds · chhaudes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "chattes" for "chaudes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ʃat\ versus \ʃod\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "chattes" or "chaudes" show up more?
"chaudes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,124 in our French list, against #28,481 for "chattes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chattes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chaudes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #254,100 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chattes" and "chaudes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chantres vs chattes". 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 #254,100 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list