cheminéevschemisesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,671
“cheminée” frequency rank
#11,539
“chemises” frequency rank
20210
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cheminée chemises
Definition Construction abritant un âtre, où l’on fait du feu, et comportant un conduit pour donner issue à la fumée. Pluriel de chemise.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cheminée and chemises apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
cheminée
8 ch
chemises

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cheminée (\ʃə.mi.ne\) and chemises (\ʃə.miz\) 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 20210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cheminée is recorded at frequency rank #8,671, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃə.mi.ne\. chemises is at rank #11,539, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃə.miz\.

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 20210, this pair ranks #369,425 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cheminée vs chemises

Shared letters: cehim. Private to "cheminée": . Private to "chemises": s.

"cheminée" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV  ·  "chemises" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chemisescchemises · cehmises · cheimses · chemiess · chemisess · chemisses · chemmises · chemsies

Frequency comparison

cheminée#8,671
chemises#11,539

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cheminée" and "chemises" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃə.mi.ne\ versus \ʃə.miz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cheminée" or "chemises"?
"cheminée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,671 in our French list, against #11,539 for "chemises". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cheminée vs chemises

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 “cheminée” 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