Which to use
“cheng” and “chère” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,739
- “cheng” frequency rank
- #2,764
- “chère” frequency rank
- 35503
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cheng | chère |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument chinois à vent se présentant comme un orgue à bouche. | Personne considérée comme chère, qui est tenu avec une affectueuse haute estime ou, par ironie, à qui est adressée une forme de dédain. |
Where the eye mixes cheng and chère
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cheng and chère
A purely visual mix-up. cheng (\tʃɛŋ\) and chère (\ʃɛʁ\) 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 35503, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cheng is recorded at frequency rank #32,739, classified as anoun, pronounced \tʃɛŋ\. chère is at rank #2,764, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛʁ\.
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 35503, this pair ranks #276,313 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cheng vs chère
Shared letters: ceh. Private to "cheng": gn. Private to "chère": rè.
"cheng" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "chère" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cheng ← ccheng · cehng · chegn · chengg · chenng · chheng · chneg · hceng
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cheng" and "chère" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cheng" or "chère"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cheng" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chère" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,313 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cheng" and "chère" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cheng vs chient". 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 #276,313 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.