chauxvschevauxWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,530
“chaux” frequency rank
#2,663
“chevaux” frequency rank
15193
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chaux chevaux
Definition Oxyde de calcium, alcalin fort, obtenu par la décarbonatation à haute température, durant un temps long, de roches calcaires (→ voir chaux vive). Pluriel de cheval.

Where the eye mixes chaux and chevaux

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. chaux runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against chevaux's 7 (CCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
chaux
7 ch
chevaux

Look-alike desk: chaux vs chevaux

A purely visual mix-up. chaux (\ʃo\) and chevaux (\ʃə.vo\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15193, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chaux is recorded at frequency rank #12,530, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃo\. chevaux is at rank #2,663, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃə.vo\.

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 15193, this pair ranks #393,441 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chaux vs chevaux

Shared letters: achux. Private to "chaux": -. Private to "chevaux": ev.

"chaux" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "chevaux" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chauxcahux · cchaux · chauxx · chaxu · chhaux · chuax · hcaux
  • chevauxcchevaux · cehvaux · cheavux · chevauxx · chevaxu · chevuax · chevvaux · chhevaux

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "chaux" and "chevaux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ʃo\ versus \ʃə.vo\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "chaux" vs "chevaux" - which ranks higher?
"chevaux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,663 in our French list, against #12,530 for "chaux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chaux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chevaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #393,441 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chaux" and "chevaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chah vs chaux". 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 #393,441 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