Which to use
“chemins” and “chemises” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,240
- “chemins” frequency rank
- #11,539
- “chemises” frequency rank
- 14779
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chemins | chemises |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de chemin. | Pluriel de chemise. |
Where the eye mixes chemins and chemises
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. chemins runs 7 letters (CCVCVCC) against chemises's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses chemins with chemises
A purely visual mix-up. chemins (\ʃə.mɛ̃\) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chemins is recorded at frequency rank #3,240, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃə.mɛ̃\. 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 14779, this pair ranks #395,273 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chemins vs chemises
Shared letters: cehims. Private to "chemins": n. Private to "chemises": -.
"chemins" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC · "chemises" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chemins" and "chemises" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "chemins" or "chemises"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chemins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chemises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #395,273 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chemins" and "chemises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chemine vs chemises". 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 #395,273 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.